Duel Heroes
by Gina Tsukiko
Summary: Jaden has always wanted to be a Hero, but lately he's done nothing but save kittens from trees. When he ends up saving someone who didn't want to be saved, he'll get much more than he asked for.
1. Chapter 1

Page | 23

DUEL Heroes

 **So, this story is basically the brain child of re-watching the YGO series and an unhealthy use of the tvtropes story generator. This one is going to be a doozy (if I manage to stay focused long enough) so please bear with me. Also, please excuse my choice of names. I just went with what sounded right to me as I went, so there will be a mix of Japanese and English names used. Sorry if that confuses anyone. -_-;**

 **Reviews appreciated, they keep me motivated! I'm gonna try and have at least the next two chapters done before posting again, so be ready for unpredictable updates! :P**

 **This is a crossover b/n YGO Duel Monsters, GX and 5D's; if all goes well, there will most likely be some kind of sequel including Zexal and Arc V. So support this one if you want that one. ;)**

 **Ships include Star, Puppy, Scoop and possibly Puzzle, maybe others as well. Definitely slow build. No promises on any, really, besides the first for that is the focus. If you don't see your ship, please give this a chance anyway! I promise most, if not the majority, of characters from all three series will find their way in here somehow.**

 **I promise not to do any large a/n's after this, as well.** **So on with the fic!**

 **(do not own; what a shame)**

 **I have posted a couple of polls on my profile regarding this fic. I'm mostly wondering if the chapter length to update ratio is too much (shorter chapters/updates? stay the same?) and if anyone would be interested in reading my "Story So Far" notes that I make for myself after each chapter (there may or may not be spoilers for future chapters in there...). I'm not really good at putting in lil 'what happened last time' blurbs in new chapters, and this fic is a monster, so just give the polls a look and let me know. :) Any changes to length/update schedule will happen in 3mnths, but if there is significant response for the notes, I'll try posting it as soon as possible (probs 'DH: Story So Far' as a title).**

" _Ten years ago, almost to the day, Domino City was devastated by the first invasion of what are now known as Duel Monsters during The Attack. Domino was left in ruins and only the sacrifice of a handful of duelists prevented the complete destruction of mankind._

 _From the ashes, Neo Domino City was born. Two years of struggle and hardship later saw the construction of the Wall and the creation of the new government branch dedicated to using the power of Duel Monsters to protect and defend what was left of the human race._

 _Prime Minister Chalmers, the founder of the Arcadia Department now fondly referred to as the Hero Division, saw to it that Neo Domino City became the shining beacon of hope and strength that it is today. Although faced with initial resistance from citizens who feared using Duel Monsters as weapons, the Department's success is undeniable as the first and last line of defense against attacking monsters from both outside and inside the city's walls._

 _It's been eight years since their debut and Hero-mania continues to grip the city. Our Hero Department has improved public opinion of Duel Monster Spirits and won over the people's hearts citywide. But most notable is Neo Domino's youngest Hero, Flame Wingman._

 _First appearing only a year after the Department's initiation, Flame Wingman's efforts and chivalry have cleaned up the streets and prevented public and personal damage on a grand scale. His actions have seen to the creation of new opportunities for spirit and human cooperation._

 _What were once deadly monsters terrorizing the populace, have now become pets, protectors, and tools for the advancement for the people of Neo Domino City._

 _Yet despite recent acclaim, some citizens still view Duel Monsters as a threat to security. Sartorius, leader of the anti-monster organization The Society of Light, was quoted in a recent interview saying that "Duel monsters are nothing but dark shadows of our own ineptitude. For this city to fully reclaim its former glory, we must cast off these demons and step into the light."_

 _In the same interview Sartorius denounced Director Divine of the Arcadia Department for implementing the so called 'dark shadows' as tools for capture, instead of the destruction of Duel Monsters. In response to this, both Director Divine and Prime Minister Sheppard have arranged for a special Q &A interview to take place this afternoon outside of City Hall._

 _Rumor has it that in an attempt to counter the Society's platform, Flame Wingman himself will be present at this very special conference. This will be the first time in three years that the Hero will be available for questioning. Many believe…"_

Jaden dodged in between pedestrians and traffic alike as he raced through the crowded streets of Neo Domino, occasionally jumping over the odd bench or fire hydrant. He just _had_ to oversleep; today of all days!

"Come on, come on!" Jaden jogged in place at an intersection waiting for the lights to change.

The Channel 7 News had been broadcasting the same program all morning. The speakers mounted on the traffic lights usually used for city emergencies had started to broadcast the news as well. Apparently hijacking every TV station wasn't good enough for this 'historical event'.

"Won't be much of an interview if I never get there!" The lights changed to yellow and Jaden rushed out into the street, a few cars honking in annoyance as they stopped for the teenager suddenly in their windshields.

"Sorry sorry sorry!" ' _Late! Why am I_ always _late?!'_

The broadcast was nothing but white noise to the people on the street. To Jaden, it was a countdown before he got in _real_ trouble. Yet another night of video games and sugar had led to a 5:00 A.M. crash and a missed alarm.

Jaden's hand drifted to his deck in the pouch attached to his belt for easy access. _Maybe just this once it would be okay…_ Jaden rounded a corner at a full sprint as a flock of high school girls appeared out of nowhere. The girls squealed, shouting something about a pervert, and leaving Jaden with a large red hand print across the face.

"… _from every news station, paper and blog have gathered in anticipation for the famed Hero to appear. Prime Minister Sheppard, and the current Head of Arcadia, Director Divine, have already arrived and have refused to take any questions until Flame Wingman arrives. Some bystanders have been making bets on how they think the charismatic Wingman will make his grand entrance. Excuse me, sir, how do you…"_

' _Great, they've switched to live.'_ Jaden groaned. He was definitely going to get an earful later.

A short gray building came into view; a small cinderblock among shining towers. Hardly even worth mentioning when compared to the buildings surrounding it, unless it was to make a point of how much it didn't fit in. No one even glanced in its direction. Just what he needed.

Dodging down the alley along the side of the building, Jaden shouldered open the strangely polished steel door, letting it slam behind him. ' _Latelatelate'_ whirled through Jaden's head as he raced across the empty room to the stairs. He finally took a chance to breathe as he burst out onto the roof. He skidded on the loose gravel, panting.

"Alright, almost there!" Jaden flicked open his duel pouch, drawing two cards.

"I fuse Elemental Hero Avion with Elemental Hero Burstinitrix!" The cards flashed in the midday sun before being slapped against Jaden's bare arm.

"I summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" With that, the cards melted into the boy's arm. A gentle glow enveloped Jaden as he took a running leap off the roof.

The glow grew into a full-on blinding light. If there was actually anyone looking at the shabby building they would have gasped in fear for the boy falling to his death. Not two seconds later they would have screamed as the boy disappeared in a ball of light to be replaced with a huge, green, black, and red Duel Monster Spirit.

Jaden chuckled to himself at the thought. His large wing beat the air as Jaden-now Flame Wingman-made his way towards the Hub. In his haste he had forgotten to find out where the interview was actually taking place. _Oh well, I'm sure it's somewhere around all those government buildings…_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Welcome everyone! Thank you for joining us today. I know there are more important places we all need to get to today. I for one have a nice BLT and a stack of invoices waiting for me at the office."

There was a smattering of chuckles from the crowd of reporters gathered around the stage.

"So I'd like to thank you all again for your patience." Prime Minister Shepphard stood at the podium, miscellaneous microphones almost blocking his view of the crowd. He cleared his throat and straightened out his burgundy suit anxiously. He glanced back at a man in a dark trench coat sitting in one of the chairs behind him. Divine looked to be just as anxious as Shepphard, maybe a little angry as well.

Divine frowned and shook his head slightly. The Prime Minister sighed before turning back to the crowd of rabid reporters. A few had pushed their way past Security to the foot of the small stage. It had been almost an hour since they had gotten really impatient; not bad timing considering the Q&A was supposed to start twenty minutes before that. Prime Minister Shepphard estimated they had about…five minutes before they started swarming.

"I'd also like to ask for just a little bit more." Boos and hisses were heard at the request.

"I'm sure that my Hero, and yours, wouldn't keep us waiting this long if it weren't truly important." Instead of calming them, the reassurance had started the questioning earlier than planned.

"What could possibly be keeping him!?"

"Is the city under attack?!"

"Is it true that Flame Wingman is shooting for the upcoming Neo Domino Documentary? Is that why he's late?!"

The crowd was working itself into a fervor. Even the everyday citizens gathered to catch a glimpse of the legendary hero were starting to get violent.

 _Oh dear…_

To his relief, Divine chose that moment to rise from his seat and address the masses.

"As it seems that our guest of honor is going to be delayed a little while longer, what say we get this show on the road?" The Director's voice carried over the shouted questions even without the help of the microphones.

Prime Minister Shepphard lightly dabbed his sweaty forehead with a handkerchief. _I'm really not cut out for these kinds of things._ Shepphard took Divine's empty seat and thought wistfully of his quiet office and imagined he was there, biting into a tasty BLT. He'd let Director Divine take care of the rest.

"As many of you have already heard, Sartorius would like you to believe that nothing good can come of Duel Monster spirits." Already the charismatic man had quieted the reporters. "Today we would like to remind everyone of the wonderful things that have already been achieved by the strength of the people of Neo Domino City via these 'dark creatures'."

"I would like to remind everyone of how far we have come as a city. Not ten years ago we were all thrown into chaos. Duel Monsters clouded the skies, wreaking destruction everywhere their shadows touched." Divine emphasized his speech with dynamic hand movements. "This is true. What is also true, is that these same monsters were what saved our people."

Everyone was enthralled with the story, including the government officials still sitting on the stage behind him. They all knew this interview was just a stunt to keep the people's confidence in their government, but they just couldn't help getting caught up in his words. Divine's passion was contagious.

"Citizens just like you and I harnessed the power of the Duel Monsters and protected us all. Two long years later and we have emerged stronger than ever thanks to the Arcadia Department!" Divine pumped his fist in the air, and the crowd pumped their fists as well, shouting their approval.

"And even stronger yet, thanks to our most beloved idol and hero!" Something in Divine's voice changed, signaling something big.

"Neo Domino City's number one protector between the people and danger!" Reporters frantically signaled for their cameramen to get ready, the regular audience members starting to cheer in anticipation. Divine jabbed his finger straight in the air, his eyes piercing.

"FLAME WINGMAN!" Right on cue, the Hero swept in from above the city line to fly just above the crowd's heads. The cheers were deafening, people jumping with their hands in the air trying to touch the Hero.

Jaden, as Flame Wingman, did a few laps around the square before landing on the small stage next to the red-headed man. Jaden tried his best to appear tall and powerful, puffing out his chest and flexing his wing a little. It seemed to do the trick as hundreds of cameras flashed in his direction.

 _Here we go._ Jaden took a deep breath and readied himself for questions. Usually he was pretty fantastic at talking to the press; especially after accomplishing some 'daring do'. But this was the first time he would be doing it in front of so many people and when there was such a stigma about Duel Monsters lately.

"I believe we are ready for your questions now." The reporters gathered at the base of the stage practically fell over themselves trying to ask their questions first.

"One at a time, of course." Divine crossed his arms behind his back looking entirely too pleased with himself at their reaction.

A blonde woman elbowed her way to the front, hardly waiting to be acknowledged before launching into a question.

"Angela Raines! Channel 7 News! Can I get an official statement about the current rise in Duel Monster attacks? What is the government planning to do about this rise?" Angela thrust her microphone at Divine who simply stepped in front of the podium. The reporter was slightly miffed at the dismissal.

"Of course Ms. Raines. A pleasure to see you again as always. Prime Minister Shepphard and I have been working hard for the improvement of security around the city. In cooperation with the Kaiba Corporation, the N.D.C. Wall is nearly complete, marking the end of an eight year project in public defense. As for the attacks within the city's walls, Director of Defense Rex Goodwin and I have been working tirelessly to increase the ranks of both the city Security and Arcadia Department." A flurry of anxious whispers swept the crowd at the mention of more members on the Hero roster.

Jaden glanced at Divine, slightly surprised as well. _I haven't heard anything about new guys. Hmm…I wonder if Jim and Aki know…_ Looking around at the gathered news cameras Jaden supposed they would know now.

"Next question?" Jaden snapped out of his imaginations of new heroes to face the crowd again. Another reporter jumped in before Angela could get another question out.

"Is it possible that the Hero Department is growing because Flame Wingman can't keep up with current demands? We all saw today how late he can be. Is this a sign that these so called _heroes_ can't handle their responsibilities anymore?" The man smirked. Obviously thinking he had them on the ropes. Jaden bristled.

 _What?! Oh come on! I've never been late when it_ really _counted!_ Jaden was about to step forward and defend himself but Divine was too fast.

"I'm sure you'll all find that all of our Heroes are up to the task and that they always have been. Our success rate has also been on the rise, to quote your own numbers put out just last week Mr. Brown." Said reporter withdrew from the front lines, properly chastened. Divine smirked, gesturing for the next question.

"Flame Wingman! Is it true that you've only been available for basic public appearances? The last time we saw you in action you were kissing babies at the N.D.C. Central Hospital!" A third reporter addressed Jaden directly. He felt a thrill trill down his back, his wing fluttering slightly behind him.

 _Finally! I get to answer a question this time!_ Although, Jaden did feel a little reluctant to actually answer. While it was true that Flame Wingman had been doing a lot of public service visits to hospitals and firehouses, it's not like he _wanted_ to. To be honest, Jaden really missed fighting in the streets. There was something…personal about defending the people in the nit and grit of the city.

 _But this is my job too. I gotta do my best for everybody!_ Jaden took a breath to answer the question when Divine jumped in once again.

"We can hardly help it if everyone is clamoring for a little bit of our favorite hero's attention." Divine spread his hands in a 'what can you do' gesture, the crowd laughing at his helpless expression.

Jaden was incredulous. _What the hell? Aren't I gonna answer anything?_ Jaden let his shoulders drop, feeling the large wing on his back do the same. He crossed his arms and allowed himself to relax. _This is gonna be a looooong interview. Maybe on the way back I can swing by for some fried shrimp or something to make up for the wasted trip downtown…_

Just when Jaden had decided to simply stand there and zone out, he noticed a thin girl with long dark hair and giant glasses struggle to make her way to the front. She seemed to get stuck right before her goal when a smaller kid with even more dark hair gave a giant shove, catapulting her into the air only to land on the Channel 7 reporter.

"Argh!" Both women shouted in pain and surprise. The boy who had given the girl the push just shook his head, obviously embarrassed. _Are they brother and sister? They at least dress like it. If they were the same age they could be twins._

The boy in the striped blue and white t-shirt and tan vest helped the girl up, who was sporting the same outfit. If they hadn't planned that as siblings, then at least everyone knew they were team reporters. Especially when they whipped out a large camera and tape recorder respectively.

"U-um! Excuse me! Mr. Wingman! Carly Nagisa with the Daily Neos Newspaper! Would you like to comment on what it's like to be a Duel Monster Hero working with humans?" Carly held up her recorder as far as she could, the little kid snapping pictures as she did. Jaden smirked to himself.

 _Man, she's one determined chick. Maybe this time I can get a word in without the boss cutting me off._ Not only was he impressed with her making her way to the front, but also taking out the number one newswoman and completely derailing the line of interrogating questioning the reporters had started. The Society's increasing influence around the city was like chum in the political waters; the people could smell blood.

 _Better make this quick!_

Flame Wingman took three quick steps and kneeled down in front of the reporter, in front of Carly, trying not to look too intimidating for the pictures the kid was frantically snapping. _At least this'll make one hell of a front page._ Jaden smirked to himself.

Carly meeped, taking a step back but managing to keep her recorder extended towards the Hero.

"That's a wonderful question." Jaden tried to sound as put-together as Divine did when he talked to the press. Not that it really mattered. He didn't need to grab their undivided attention with pretty words like Divine did. Everyone was already focused on Flame Wingman, regardless of what he actually said or did.

"Being a Hero is easy because I know everyone'll have my back, and I've got theirs. Hero work is all about working together, humans and spirits, to make sure everyone is safe." Carly stepped closer, clutching her recorder tightly and nodding her head vigorously. It was a once in a lifetime chance to have _the_ Flame Wingman talk to _her_. This day could only get better if she scored a scoop on 'the King' as well.

 _So far, so good._ Jaden resisted the urge to look back at Divine to see if he approved of his answer. Maybe Divine was only trying to protect him from screwing up the interview, but at the same time, Jaden couldn't help but want to prove himself.

"It doesn't matter whether my partners are human or not. Everyone in the Hero Department works together to protect this city."

The crowd was silent as Jaden straightened and returned to his spot beside the podium, signaling the end of his answer. A smattering of applause started somewhere in the crowd behind the reporters before growing in strength. Cheers for Flame Wingman echoed around the square. Jaden couldn't help the satisfied smile that found its way onto his face…

"Then can you explain why all of these so called 'humans' use Pro-Dueling and duel spirit powers? They can hardly be true representatives of the human race."

Only for the smile to be replaced with a grimace. _What is it with these reporters!? Are they_ trying _to make me look bad?_

It was true. Both Jim and Aki, the only other Heroes in the department, used duel monster cards to defend against rogue duel spirits. While most people in New Domino City couldn't see the spirits, occasionally someone would come along that could. Pro-Duelers were an even rarer breed that could see, touch and sometimes even use duel monster cards in real life.

Most of the Pros who had fought during the Attack no longer used their gifts to fight duel monsters and the younger generation of gifted kids had since started dueling for fun in the stadium. Aki and Jim were the last two Duelers still part of the Dept.

Jaden felt disgusted on their behalf. Just because they used skills that others didn't have, that didn't mean they weren't _human_. Jaden glanced down at himself. _Me on the other hand…_

"We understand your concerns and have already taken steps to correct this unfortunate…circumstance." The reporter's question had put an end to the cheering and Divine's added response had brought back the anxious silence. The revelation of the new Heroes seemed to be what Divine had _really_ been planning for this interview. He hadn't even introduced them yet and already Divine looked like the cat that got the canary.

"As I mentioned earlier, the Hero Department will be adding two new members to its ranks. Due to current public opinion, our new Heroes are not gifted like our more seasoned Heroes. They are, however, in possession of enough duel energy to be able to see any Duel Monster threats that may arise, making them suitable additions to Arcadia." Jaden quirked a brow. He was completely out of the spotlight now.

As excited as he was to be part of a public conference, Jaden was just as curious as the rest of the crowd to meet the new guys. Jim and Aki had been the only dependable Heroes for three years until Divine okayed Jaden for duty.

 _Huh. Maybe three is the magic number…_

"As I've said, Director Goodwin and I have been working towards a safer tomorrow for our shining city. As such, the good Director has chosen two new members for the Arcadia Department from the top class of the Public Security Bureau's many boot camps."

As if they had heard some hidden cue, two teens stood from their seats on the platform to stand on Divine's other side. Jaden had been so concerned with getting to the conference on time, and then focusing on trying not to act like a fool, he hadn't even noticed the two young men among the old dudes in suits.

Divine gestured to the dark skinned guy standing at attention on his right. His entire outfit screamed military, right down to his combat boots. The only thing that didn't seem regulation was his hair which went down to his shoulders and was held back with some kind of silver hair clips. The guy was buff; like _really_ buff. He probably only had to flex and his sleeves would just rip right off.

 _That would explain the vest jacket._ Jaden tried not to laugh at the thought of the dude trying on shirts at the mall and getting frustrated at the 'you rip it you bought it' rules.

"Allow me to introduce Axel O'Brien. He graduated top of his class near the outskirts of the Wall. He is the first to come from the Eastern Satellite Training Camp. Mr. O'Brien has dedicated his life to protecting our city and has demonstrated great tenacity and determination. As well as being in the top of his class, Mr. O'Brien has also earned top marks with his survival techniques and marksmanship."

The guy's facial expression didn't change at all despite the praise he was receiving. He just kept his gaze focused out towards the crowd with a slight frown on his face. Jaden watched him closely and noted that his eyes were shifting rapidly back and forth.

 _Is he…? Is he scanning the crowd for some kind of attack right now?!_ Jaden tried not to sigh. _He's gonna be a_ joy _to work with._

"I would also like to introduce Kenzan Tyranno." Divine gestured to the boy on the other side of Axel. Much like the first, he also stood at attention and wore combat boots and military gear. Yet his clothes were a dull orange and his shirt really _did_ look like he had flexed the sleeves off, although he wasn't as built as the other guy. An orange headband with some kind of face on it kept his dreads in check.

"Mr. Tyranno has also just graduated from a Public Security Training Camp. From right here in the Hub, as a matter of fact." Divine walked around the still stoic Axel to clap a gloved hand on Kenzan's shoulder. The kid jumped in surprise. Jaden could tell the guy was much more nervous than his counterpart.

"While Mr. O'Brien has the lion's share of experience, Mr. Tyranno here has shown an incredible passion and dedication in all his courses. His strength and determination more than make up for his…youth." Divine's smile looked like it would be more at home on a shark.

Divine was practically oozing smugness and pride over them. Jaden felt a chill of unease slide down his spine.

"I see a bright new future for our new Heroes. And a bright new future for all of Neo Domino City!" At the statement camera flashes and shouts from the reporters washed over the group assembled on the stage. The crowds of citizens were going nuts behind them.

Jaden thought about how the Society of Light would take the news. He pushed down the feeling of being old news and smirked.

 _Maybe now they'll stop their belly aching._

"Are you saying these _kids_ are supposed to protect us?!"

"More Heroes, more collateral damage! Down with Arcadia!"

"Does this mean that with new Heroes the Public Security Tax will go up?!" The crowd shouted in outrage.

"What good will they do against monsters without any powers?!"

 _Apparently not._

While most of the people gathered seemed pretty ecstatic for more Heroes, there seemed to be a few bad apples among them trying to instigate a fight. The line of questioning the reporters had started didn't help matters. The Public Security officers standing at the front of the platform jumped into action trying to settle the wave of angry citizens who had started pushing forward.

The stuff shirt officials started getting antsy too; apparently no one had expected a riot to start at a high profile, very hot topic issue, press conference. At least the new guys seemed to be taking the turn well.

Jaden sighed, exasperated, and waited for Divine to give his orders. Said Director stepped back from the edge of the platform and nodded to the Minister who then started ushering the other officials down the back of the stage. The Public Security Officers escorted them to their respective vehicles. Director Goodwin stayed behind to oversee his officers as they went on crowd control.

Divine lead the new recruits to a nondescript black van. He turned back to Jaden, pointing to the sky, before getting in himself and driving away. Jaden was shocked.

 _He wants me to just up-up-and-away? At a time like this?!_

With the apparent 'escape' of the government officials, the reporters had whipped themselves into a frenzy, shouting accusations at the retreating vehicles and then at Flame Wingman, who was still standing on the platform. Jaden growled in frustration. He couldn't just _leave_ things like this!

He glanced around at the Security officers expertly corralling any trouble makers away from frightened citizens under the steady eye of Director Goodwin. With a sigh, Jaden vaulted into the sky once again.

Public Security had everything under control. Flame Wingman would just make things worse. Helplessness joined the frustration roiling around in the pit of his stomach. Jaden coasted around the square one last time before shooting off over the surrounding buildings.

 _So far, this day sucks._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jaden sat cross legged, on top of the tallest building he could find, definitely _not_ sulking.

Three years! Three years he had been working to protect his city and they all thought he was a joke! Kissing babies and posing for pictures; is that really all they thought of him anymore? Didn't they remember all those times he had saved people from rampaging Duel Monster spirits? All the times he had prevented fires from spreading or buildings from crushing people?

None of them really wanted to know more about him or his views on anything; they just wanted to use him as their scapegoat to make the government look bad. The reporters weren't so much as giving Divine a _chance_ to defend Duel Monsters, they were just trying to pin him for not doing his job. Trying to blame _Jaden_ for not doing his job.

Jaden sighed. Even Divine seemed to take him for granted lately. He hated to admit it, but the missions he had been given lately were very photo-opportunistic. It was as if Divine was just trying to keep Jaden from making a fool of himself. Just like at the press conference, it felt like the Director didn't trust Jaden at all.

He might not have been the first Hero in the Dept., but he _was_ the youngest. Even though he had the most experience with his powers, being the youngest on the team had its pitfalls. Jaden winced just thinking of all the property damage he had caused over the years; intentionally or not.

 _Maybe those reporters had a point…_

Pulling out his deck, Jaden's heart grew heavy. It had been years since he had transformed into anyone else besides Flame Wingman. Admittedly, he was Jaden's strongest monster. At the same time, Jaden hadn't had much time to really figure out everything he could do with his deck. He was sure there was nothing he couldn't accomplish with his Elemental Heroes.

He wasn't positive, but Jaden thought that maybe Divine kept assigning Flame Wingman simply _because_ the duel monster was so recognizable. Easier to make posters and stuff that way. Jaden couldn't remember when it was decided to make Flame Wingman an 'idol' but now he was definitely stuck like that.

"Man! This sucks!"

Jaden threw his arms up in frustration. He flopped back and stared up at the sky. The gravel covering the rooftop was rough against his back, his t-shirt and hoodie combo doing little to protect his back and bare arms. Jaden let the sounds of the traffic below wash over him and started to relax.

"I guess I'll just have to show them myself!" Jaden jumped to his feet and rushed to the edge of the building, planting a foot on the ledge.

"I'll show everyone how awesome Duel Monster spirits are even if I have to do it one person at a time!" He thrust a fist out over the ledge.

"Just you watch, Divine! I promise to make you proud!" Jaden smirked. _I bet I look so awesome like this!_ The wind ruffled his hair and hoodie in a dramatic way, as if to make the hero look more…heroic.

"All I gotta do is Hero up and….and…" Jaden sighed.

"Aah, I forgot. I can't use Flame Wingman without Divine's permission. Man!" Jaden ran his hands through his hair in frustration. Because Flame Wingman was so popular, anytime he went Hero he got swarmed by fans. No way was he gonna get any hero work done with that kind of crowd hanging around. Not to mention the kind of trouble he would be in for any kind of 'unauthorized action'.

 _So close! There has to be a way to…Wait! This is perfect!_

Jaden whipped out his deck and fanned out the cards. His elemental heroes stared back at him; more than just the iconic one. _If I use one of my other elemental heroes, I won't be recognized by anyone, and Divine won't find out!_ Jaden smiled in what could only be described as 'shit eating'.

"This is gonna be _so_ awesome!" Excited, he started flipping through his monster cards for which one to use first.

A spot of bright color from the street caught his eye.

A few blocks away by a not-so-well lit alley, what looked like a little kid was following a not-so-friendly looking guy into said alley. Jaden watched as the kid followed the man into the alley without a backward glance at the people milling around who _must_ have seen what was about to happen.

"A mugging, perfect! Uh—I mean," Jaden cleared his throat before holding out one of his cards dramatically.

"Don't worry citizen! Jaden-man is here to save the day!" He struck a pose on the roof's edge with a serious face and slapped the card onto his exposed arm. The epic-ness was only slightly diminished by his gleeful chuckle as Jaden was once again engulfed in a bright light. Then in his place stood a tall humanoid-shaped Duel Monster with large white wings and green skin, and feathers head to toe.

"Let's go! Avian to the rescue!" The (now) tall teenager pumped the air before swan diving off the building toward the mugging.

 _Get ready Neo Domino City. I'm gonna show you what Jaden Yuki can_ really _do!_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Today was Steve's lucky day. It was his first day on the job and he was already on a lucky streak!

First he had stirred up trouble at the town square: something about evil duel monsters and blah blah blah. Then this kid had just walked around the corner with that incredible 'please beat me up in a dark alley' face, and how could he refuse? It was like stealing candy from a baby.

Literally.

The kid was so short that Steve almost had second thoughts. Almost. To really get in good with the big boss, he had to do something really outrageous. Beating on elementary kids wasn't really up there, but it was a start. After this, who knew what he'd do next?! Maybe he'd try his luck pulling a job on city hall later…

Steve looked back at the black and blonde haired kid to make sure he was still there, and led him farther away from the street. He blinked. For a second there, it looked like the kid had grown almost a whole head taller. Steve shrugged it off, blaming it on the kid's weird hair and a trick of the light.

"Just a little farther, friend. I promise." Steve tried not to laugh.

"So, there's really a Hero Convention back here?" Steve couldn't help the snort that escaped at the kid's question. How stupid could you get?! There wasn't even a chance a hero, licensed or not, would come back here, let alone a bunch of sweaty fanboys.

"Because I would have thought this would be more like the urine-soaked, rat-infested places scumbags like _you_ go to pick up chicks."

"What the hell did you just say punk?!" Steve whipped around to face the boy.

"I think you heard me just fine. Unless you suffer from poor hearing as well as poor taste in clothing." Steve growled. It was an honor to receive the purple robe at the ceremony last week! It was a very high-end affair; there were lemon bars and everything!

"Y-yeah?! Well you…" Steve spluttered, trying to come up with a good comeback.

"I also think it's about time you answered my questions." The guy bulldozed over him. Where Steve was fuming in anger, the other seemed to have some kind of cool and threatening aura that made the robed figure back up a few steps. This mugging was definitely _not_ what Steve thought it would be.

"Oh yeah?! Well… _I think_ it's time I taught you a lesson!" Even in the dark, Steve could tell that the boy was smirking very condescendingly.

Steve charged at the little punk, yelling in rage, and bolstered by the knowledge that he would beat this kid to a pulp and then go rob a bank; all in the name of his boss. Suddenly, Steve was blinded by a flash of gold before a flying guy in a green leotard landed on his back.

"I bet he wasn't expecting it to be such a _hard_ lesson." Avian struck a pose, hands on his hips and wings extended, face to the clouds. Very heroic. He kept one foot on the mugger's back, even though his dive bomb had basically rendered him unconscious.

 _Man, I gotta work on my snarky quips…_

"Don't worry young lad! Fla—uh…Avian has dealt with the evil-doer! No need to thank me; all in a day's work." _Ha. Everything according to plan! This is easier than I thought._ Jaden held his pose for a few more seconds before slowly relaxing and looking to the citizen he had saved. Silence was definitely not what he would expect from someone who had just avoided a mugging.

"Hmph. Yes. Thank you _very_ much." His words were crisp and anything _but_ grateful. The guy with the crazy hair seemed to stare straight through the hero. Throughout the whole almost-mugging, he hadn't moved once since Jaden/Avian had seen him enter the alley.

Jaden tried not to flinch. There was something in the teen's eyes, something cold and sharp. His gaze sent worms wriggling through his stomach. If this is what he got for saving the kid, he shuddered to think what would have happened to the mugger.

He did shiver when the black and blonde haired boy looked him over appraisingly. The stranger 'hmphed' again before turning, and leaving, without a backward glance.

 _Was it something I said?_ Jaden looked between the bad guy still under foot and where the other boy had left. They were both equally creepy, although the robed guy got extra bad-guy points for the mauve robes in general. Anything mauve was automatically bad news in Jaden's book. Although…

Jaden looked back to the alley's entrance again. _That guy was bad news too…_

There was a dull pop, a cloud of gray smoke and Avian disappeared, replaced with Jaden once more. Avian's duel card appeared on his arm again so it could be returned to his deck. Jaden took out a small metal disk from one of his pockets and pressed it to the man's forehead. Once done, Jaden pulled out a small remote to turn on the small tracking disk. The disk blinked red, sending a signal to the Public Security Bureau who would send a few officers for pick up.

 _Maybe they were working together or something._ Jaden frowned. Had he actually let one of them get away? He'd need to keep an eye out for him, just in case he tried anything. It would be just his luck if he had only caught the no-name minion and let the evil mastermind get away.

Jaden brushed off his dark thoughts and joined the bustling crowds of the main streets. To think, all these people were just a few feet away and they didn't even realize what had happened.

 _At least there's still some kind of silver lining. There's no way Divine'll know what I've been up to._ Jaden smiled, overall satisfied with the outcome. He crossed his arms behind his head and looked up at the sky. Jaden had stopped some kind of criminal activity, and even got a thank you! …sort of. He shrugged to himself; he was just getting started, of course he'd have to shrug off a few cobwebs. Next time for sure.

Some of the stores had started to turn on their neon signs and it wouldn't be long before the street lights followed, and then the sun would sink below the Wall. Just enough time for another try before curfew. Jaden had to make sure to be back home before his Dad did.

 _Maybe I should try something simpler. Muggings have too many variables. Maybe I can stop a carjacking, or maybe a—_

Jaden's musings were cut short by some kind of commotion behind him. Before he could turn and look, a guy on a motorcycle whizzed past, kicking up dust and debris.

"What the—?"

"Stop that guy!"

"He's out of control!"

The young hero looked back in the direction the motorcycle had gone before rushing down a side street, whipping out his deck as he went.

"Yes! Alright, let's try this again! Game on, Sparkman!" Jaden drew the blue clad elemental and slapped it on his arm. Sparkman emerged on the other side of the street just as the cyclist zoomed by again. Jaden took up a runner's stance, suddenly serious.

 _Let's try this one more time!_ He took one last deep breath before speeding off in pursuit. While Avian had the special ability of super-fast flight, Sparkman was faster by far. In seconds the hero had caught up with the rogue motorcycle, actually having to _slow down_ just to draw even.

"Hey, speed racer! License and registration!" The man only spared a quick glance at the blue and gold clad speedster. Jaden tried not to be miffed at the dismissal.

"Hey! I'm not kidding! Pull this thing over before someone gets hurt! Or are you _trying_ to run over old man Jenkins?!" The high-speed metal death trap was headed straight for an old man with a walker, slowly trying to cross the street. Apparently his hearing aid was on the fritz and didn't hear the bystanders trying to warn him.

Jaden put on an extra burst of speed to pick up, and then dump said old man before he got hit.

 _What is with this guy?! Is there really an evil guy handbook on hurting old people?_ Jaden sighed. _It never fails; someone's in trouble, it's either a little kid or some old lady with a cat…_

The red motorcycle rushed by once again, this time dangerously close to the hero. In that split second they were even, with Sparkman's advanced senses, Jaden noticed something strange. The guy on the cycle was punching random buttons on his console. Images of oil slicks or rockets went through Jaden's head.

 _I have to stop him! And quick!_ There was no time to laugh at the irony; Jaden rushed off after the runaway. He was obviously a super spy mastermind, with a spy-cycle, intent on doing something…spy-y.

Jaden was thankful that the people in this city were pretty used to random acts of violence and craziness on the streets. Already they were ducking into stores and alleys; cars pulling over and out of the way. There was no telling when a Duel Monster Spirit would go rogue and wreck the mom-and-pop shop on the corner.

Or when some guy on a motorcycle would go rampaging through the streets and try to hit helpless, old people.

Jaden focused back on the problem at hand. There was even less time to muddle out motives as the motorist had managed to gain speed and pull even farther away. Sparkman raced after it, sparks of electricity coming off him in his determination.

He ran until he was directly in front of the vehicle and slammed his hands on the front of the bike, digging his feet into the asphalt. If the guy wouldn't stop voluntarily, Jaden would _make_ him stop. His feet skid along the road, tires still turning at remarkable speeds, and the driver _still_ didn't look up!

"Come on, man! What's it gonna take?! Crashing into a wall?!" As he yelled at the man, more screams came from behind the hero. Sparkman looked over his shoulder to where the out of control bike was headed, only to groan in frustration. The screaming was coming from a small café with a wide window facing the street so the patrons could see exactly what kind of trouble was heading their way.

"Aw, man! _Really?_ "

All the while, the rider was still punching buttons as if nothing strange was happening, completely focused.

 _Gotta stop him before he shoots me with a titanium net or something._ Jaden glanced around and smirked. With one hand still on the bike, Sparkman grabbed the front of the driver's jacket and swung him off the motorcycle. Without having to worry about the 'spy', Sparkman managed to stop the out of control cycle before it could smash into the small café. He looked over his shoulder to see the people inside clapping and cheering at the save.

Sparkman stood and waved at the applause. _Heh, still got it._ Jaden turned back to the street to see the blue leather clad man pick himself up out of the conveniently placed garbage bags. Completely unharmed, just the way Jaden planned it.

The man walked past the hero and to his bike. Jaden tensed, ready for some kind of spy-ware to pop out and do something, only to be surprised when he just switched it off. The man knelt next to the motorcycle, completely ignoring the Duel Hero.

"Uh…" Jaden stared. If he were an evil spy intent on destroying the city with his spy-machine, wouldn't he have done something by now?

 _Don't tell me. I've gone and screwed up again…_ Jaden resisted the urge to smack himself in the face. _Why can't anything be straight-forward anymore?_

The rider glanced up at Sparkman, still standing awkwardly between the bike and the café wall.

"Can I help you?"

Jaden bristled. With all he had been through that day,this guy's blunt indifference to him - a _Hero_ for god's sake - was the last straw.

"What? No 'thank you?'" If Sparkman's voice sounded a little gruffer than usual, it was totally this guy's fault. Jaden only grew more frustrated when the man just went right back to fiddling with the dashboard. The least he could do was take off his helmet!

"Don't you have a kitten to save or some building to destroy?"

Jaden spluttered in shock before retorting back.

"Nope. Too busy stopping some crazy joyrider speeding through downtown." Jaden said bitterly. What was it with people today? It was like no one wanted his help, or _anybody's_ help, at all. Everyone was just happy to go wandering in dark alleys and crashing into walls like a bunch of lemmings.

 _Are heroes really…not wanted anymore…?_ It couldn't be that all those reporters, the Society of Light and all their complaints, could actually be true? The Arcadia Department was founded to _help_ people. There was no way they couldn't be needed anymore.

That _he_ wasn't needed.

There was a rustling and papers were suddenly being thrust in front of Sparkman's helmet. Jaden blinked, surprised. He looked past the papers to see that the cyclist, finally helmet-free, was standing directly in front of him.

Jaden blinked again. Black and blonde hair seemed to be all the rage today. At least this one only had blond highlights. There was also a yellow tattoo that ran from his hairline, over an eye, and to his chin. Jaden made a note to find out how tattoos could be metallic-looking when he got home.

"What's this?" Sparkman looked from the offered papers to the teen and back again.

"My license and registration." The teen answered in a monotone voice. He just stared at Sparkman like he was an idiot.

Jaden brushed the papers away to stare open mouthed. _This guy…!_

"So you _did_ hear me! Then why did you speed up?!" Jaden was beyond frustrated. He was fed up! He was done! Not only was the guy speeding and putting people in danger, he had straight-out _ignored_ the guy trying to help him!

"There's something wrong with my onboard circuitry. I was trying to brake." The guy put his documents back in his wallet, realizing the Hero wasn't going to take them.

"So I guess you really did need my help, huh?" _Alright! Two for two!_

"Hmph." The guy turned back to his bike, obviously dismissing Jaden as unimportant.

 _Well, a perfect score for me at least. Two saves and two almost-grateful people. I'll just have to work my way up to adoration._ Jaden had forgotten how hard it had been to get people to like Flame Wingman; he didn't know why he thought it would be any easier this time.

Sparkman crossed his arms, still standing tall in front of the café. Already cars had returned to the road and pedestrians had started to gather on the sidewalks. Jaden could feel the patrons staring and it was only so long before the cameras would come out. He had to wrap this up before he was found out. But what was he supposed to do with the guy? Give him a ticket?

"Well, then. I guess….Do you need me to call a cab or something? A lift to an autoshop?" The black haired guy looked down at the running motorbike and back at the hero. There really was no need for the raised brow; Jaden knew the other was exasperated with him.

"Just…uh…be careful next time. Okay?" The man didn't say another word as he put on his helmet once more and got on his bike. The engine revved once and Jaden assumed he would pull off an impressive peel out when he heard the man speak.

"…thanks." With that, the red motorcycle merged seamlessly with traffic and disappeared.

Jaden sighed. The sun had fully set now and he was running out of time. He turned toward home and took off.

 _Today sucks._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jaden made it back to the apartment he shared with his dad in almost record time. He stood outside the door, no longer in hero mode, trying to work up the nerve to go in. It wasn't like he was scared of his dad being mad at him for being late, he just hated to disappoint him.

His dad was usually pretty understanding with the Hero thing, and why wouldn't he be? But every now and then he would get overprotective and overbearing. Hence the eight o'clock curfew. Jaden did his best to humor him, but he was turning 18 soon and was ready to break out on his own.

Of course, that didn't mean his dad was willing to let him go quite yet. Together, they had decided that Jaden could spend his last year of high school at the public school across town. That was starting tomorrow. And Jaden was already breaking curfew. Not a good sign.

Jaden shook his head roughly. He could do this; he was still going to school tomorrow and there was nothing his dad could do about it! They had done the paperwork, gotten everything arranged and all the necessary school things. There was no way Jaden was going to let a little thing like a missed curfew keep him from his goals!

With this in mind, Jaden went in with a new determination in his eyes.

"I'm home! Sorry I'm late! There was this thing, and then…another thing…But I'm home now! All good!" Jaden called through the apartment. It wasn't large, but it was just right for the two of them. Jaden wandered into the kitchen when he didn't hear a response. He glanced around, but there was no sign that his dad had even come home yet.

"Still at the office?" Jaden mumbled to himself. He spotted the phone on the wall and the blinking red light indicating a missed message. Jaden sighed in relief. It was probably his dad leaving a message saying he would be getting home late and to help himself to the food in the fridge. He confirmed the caller ID and smiled broadly.

"All right! In the clear! Lucky~!" Jaden whooped. His good mood held throughout dinner and his post-work bath. Afterwards, he turned on the TV to wind down before bed and just chill for a little while.

 _Maybe I can learn something to talk about at school from the news…what else do kids talk about? Video games? Food? I wonder if anyone else follows the Motoracing circuit?_

Jaden stood musing to himself, changing channels and looking for the news. When he found it they were recapping what had happened at the conference earlier. Not much had happened after Flame Wingman had left. The Public Security Bureau had settled everything really well; hardly anyone was injured and the reporters got away safely and with new things to report about to boot.

" _In other news, it looks like the recent opinion about DM hasn't seemed to stem the public's admiration for Heroes like FWM. It looks like a new amateur hero has sprung up in downtown Neo Domino City late this afternoon."_ Jaden did a double take and gaped at the screen. The news was showing a very shaky video, most likely taken on someone's phone, of Sparkman stopping a motorcycle in front of the café.

 _Aw man! I'm in sooo much trouble now…_ Jaden groaned and flopped onto the couch. Even with his face in the cushions, he could still hear the news anchor speculating about the 'new' hero and his motives and origins. All in all, they were almost spinning it like a crazy guy in spandex had decided to take matters into his own hands. Jaden snorted to himself. As if a regular guy could run at those speeds, not to mention the electricity that had also been caught on camera.

" _This station would like to say that we do not condone un-trained heroes acting on their own and would like to remind our viewers that only licensed Heroes are permitted by the city to take action. If you see any danger, please call the number on the screen for assistance. In other news…"_ Jaden rolled over enough to reach the remote and switch off the TV.

"Guess the kid didn't even think it was worth tellin' the police about me…" He was a little disappointed that only one of his heroic escapades had made it to the news, but at the same time, Divine was already going to have kittens since Jaden had been caught using his powers without permission. He could only imagine what would happen if he had known about the other one too.

Jaden shuddered. Nothing good, at any rate. Suddenly too exhausted to care where he was, Jaden fell asleep on the couch.

 _Tomorrow will be better…_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yusei had driven all the way back to the garage without any more problems. Almost as if there had been nothing wrong with the bike in the first place. But something did happen and it was weighing heavily on the teen's mind.

He had been working on this bike for most of his life. Every single part of her fit together perfectly, mostly because he had adjusted and created most of the parts himself from scrap. Eventually Yusei had even managed to integrate an on-board computer so that he could keep in contact with the base. Crow and the others were convinced that Yusei's tinkering, as they called it, would make them rich someday. Something about Motoracing competitions...

Yusei pulled the motorcycle into the garage, still trying to work out exactly what had gone wrong. Just last week he had finished a top to bottom tune up; the cherry red cycle was in near mint condition and the closest Yusei had ever gotten her to perfection. Although the Team always joked that Yusei would never actually be satisfied, even if he could make her fly.

Yusei smiled ruefully to himself. He knew they meant well, that they were just worried about him when he would spend all his time 'tinkering' and forget to eat or sleep. Last time, Yusei had managed to get a full week of work in before the others had dragged him out of the garage.

He only hoped they'd leave him alone long enough to fix her properly this time.

For a brief moment, the blue clad 'hero' popped into his head. He had definitely been a strange one, but nothing too out there compared to what the city was like every day. Yusei looked down at his hands that had clenched around the bikes handles. If he could fix his bike and never see another Hero again, Yusei would be happy.

Yusei glanced out the window on the second floor. He couldn't see much from there besides the skyline. He didn't really expect to see anything, especially since the sun had already set, but the thought of those 'heroes' running around haphazardly like the speedster before made his blood boil.

He looked back down at his fists and slowly stepped back from the bike. Now wasn't the time to dwell on things that had already happened. He could only fix what was before him right now.

Yusei tidied the garage a bit, taking out his tools to get started. Working on his bike always managed to calm him down, which was exactly what he needed after the day he'd had.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It had been hours since Yusei had left the Hideout for supplies. Crow grumbled to himself in annoyance.

"That gear-head probably got distracted at the scrap yard again." Crow would have gone himself, but the kids needed help with their preparations for school the next day and he really didn't trust the others to help out. Even for just shopping around town Yusei was the better choice. He might get distracted sometimes, but at least it never led to a fight.

Crow sighed again, his shoulders slumped. _Maybe he's sleeping in the garage again. I hope he remembered to put the stuff in the fridge first this time. Life would be so much easier if I could just find_ one _other person to look after the kids every once in a while._

When Crow did make it to the garage he couldn't help but smirk in triumph. Yusei was kneeling by his bike, already covered in grease and tinkering away. Crow chuckled, remembering what he had seen earlier on the news.

"Saw ya on TV today, Yusei. Ya get caught drag racing old ladies again?" Crow teased, leaning cockily on the railing at the top of the stairs. Yusei continued as if he hadn't heard him. Crow was going to continue his teasing when Yusei stopped fiddling with his bike.

"…she just needs another tune up…" He didn't look up from his bike, but mumbled to himself just loud enough for Crow to hear. After a few seconds of silence, Yusei went back to what he was doing. Crow just shrugged.

"Whatever you say, Yusei." Crow shrugged, crossing his arms behind his head carelessly. _I'll give him two days this time._ Crow smiled down at the black haired teen before leaving the way he came.

Crow's presence, or the subsequent lack thereof, didn't really even breach Yusei's focus enough for him to actually notice. Already, many pieces of the engine and other parts were spread out around him. Yusei kept picking them up and putting them down again, murmuring to himself all the while.

"…what's missing?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 **So that's chapter one. Let me know what you think! I'll answer questions if you have them, but they might be answered soon anyway, so look forward to that.**

 _PUBLISHED FF 6/15/2016_

 _EDITED 9/13/2017_

 _PUBLISHED AO3 12/8/2017_


	2. Chapter 2

Page | 28

DUEL Heroes

"Not again! I'm _so_ gonna be late!" Jaden groaned, slightly breathless. He was sprinting through the streets, yet again, since he had fallen asleep on the couch and had forgotten to set his alarm. Not that it would have helped since it would have gone off in his bedroom and not in front of his face where it was most effective.

Jaden steamrolled down the streets towards the Academy. If he had woken up earlier he could have taken the electric train and travelled in style. No old ladies to dodge around and no Duel Spirits clogging the air; just him and his thoughts…most likely napping if he were honest. He could just see it now…the city passing by peacefully as the sun rose over the Wall, Jaden himself completely unaware as he slept while the train did all the hard work…

Blaring horns jolted Jaden out of his wishful day-dreaming. In a daze he had managed to cross the street during a 'no walk' sign without actually getting hit. Luckily, most everyone on the road was more caffeinated than he was. Glancing back he saw a motorcycle zoom by where he had just crossed; most likely the source of the honking. …did motorcycles even have horns?

"Guess I'm not the only one in a hurry." Jaden scratched the back of his head. The motorcycle reminded him of his experiences in solo heroism the other day. The yellow, chunky-looking bike raced around the corner and out of sight.

 _I wonder if that guy fixed his bike yet. She was a pretty sweet ride…it would be a crime if she never got fixed…_ Jaden shook his head to clear it of the thoughts of the older teen. The brunette took off towards the Academy again, this time taking care not to run out into traffic.

"I've got better things to worry about right now!" Jaden could see the Academy rising in the distance; he was almost there. If he could just get there before the first bell, he would be golden. He couldn't give his dad a reason to keep homeschooling him. If he couldn't even manage to be on time just this _once_... Lingering thoughts about a guy with an awesome bike and an even weirder tattoo would just make things worse.

* * *

"I…I actually…made it!" The starting bell hadn't even rung yet as Jaden burst through the front doors, panting heavily. His legs finally gave out and Jaden sank to the floor, oblivious to the stares his entrance had gotten him. Jaden tried to get his breathing back under control while taking out his school schedule.

"Alright. Phase one complete! Now…where to next?" He stared at the page for a few seconds before giving up on deciphering it. Even if he did know how to read it, there was no way he was going to figure out how to get to the right class without a map.

Jaden sighed and levered himself up off the ground. "Guess I'll just have to ask for directions." He plastered a bright, and he hoped friendly, smile on his face. Who said guys couldn't ask for directions? Jaden knew when he was beat and this was the perfect opportunity to make friends too! The teen was hopeful as he scanned the halls for someone to ask.

Making a good first impression was important, he had heard. One wrong move and he would be known as 'that weird new kid' with no friends. Or worse, 'the freaky homeschool kid'. Not that Jaden had a problem with that; name calling had kind of lost its effect on him since becoming a Hero and always being chewed out by the press. He just hoped that public school would be different. If Jaden tried hard enough, and smiled enough, he was sure he could make friends. Friends that would be there for _him_ and not for what he could do for them as a Hero.

His smile started to lose some of its brightness at the thought. It wasn't fair to think like that about his colleagues. But that was just it. His friends at work were just 'friends at work'. Jaden couldn't really talk to them about personal things. Couldn't invite them out for ramen or to the arcade. Divine's stupid rules about 'secret identities' and what not.

Sometimes Jaden hated being a Hero. It could just be so…lonely.

Jaden slapped himself. He was being ridiculous. Now was the time to fix all that, and he was wasting precious time! Jaden spotted a group of girls that seemed to be about his age. _They look promising. Here goes nothing!_

"Hey guys! I'm new here and I was wondering if you could—"

"You! You're the pervert from yesterday!" The brunette girl shouted, pointing accusingly at Jaden. Jaden jumped. That was definitely not the reaction he had expected.

"W-what? What are you talking about?" He tried to defend himself. Jaden took a few steps back to put some distance between himself and the crazy lady. If she could call him names, why couldn't he? She kinda deserved it if that was how she was going to act when someone asked for help.

"Don't try to deny it! You're even wearing the same hoody!" The two other girls in the group, probably Crazy Lady's friends, seemed to recognize Jaden as well. The blonde's eyes seemed to harden while the girl with light blue hair cowered behind her.

Jaden blinked. He didn't remember ever meeting these girls before in his life. Yet they obviously seemed to remember him. Jaden looked the three over again; he definitely would have remembered such pretty girls if he had met them.

The brunette flushed, either in anger or embarrassment, when Jaden just continued to stare dazedly. Crazy Lady crossed her arms over her chest as if Jaden had x-ray vision and was using his 'pervy powers' to peek at her. The boy blinked again at the action. _I wonder if any of my heroes_ do _have x-ray vision…_

"What are you looking at?! You want another slap, pervert?" The girl reeled back to let the kid have it, only to be held back by the blonde.

"Sorry, she gets a little touchy sometimes." The other girl tried to apologize for her friend and stepped between the two, although still glaring slightly at Jaden. The blonde girl seemed to be more curious about the new kid.

That's when it clicked. Yesterday he had been in such a rush to make it to the conference that he had run into a group of girls his age on the street. Jaden rubbed his cheek, remembering the phantom sting of the slap.

"H-heh heh, right, sorry about that. I was in a hurry yesterday. I was late for…something really important." Jaden rubbed the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. He may or may not have touched something he shouldn't have when he crashed into them. "I really didn't mean to cause any trouble."

The blonde let go of the other girl's arm, crossing her own arms to look sternly at the brunette. "I'm sure you were by the way you hardly stopped to apologize." She tried not to smile at the kid's properly chastened face. She could tell he was sorry for the incident. Crazy Lady wasn't so convinced and continued to glare daggers at him.

"I dunno, he seems kinda cute to me." The two girls blinked at their friend. The third girl had stepped around her friends to peer at Jaden. She was apparently lost in her own little world, completely ignoring any hostility that had just happened. The girl smiled at Jaden, making him blush. "Would you carry my books?"

Crazy Lady and the blonde blinked at their friend before letting out identical, resigned sighs. If she was hitting on him, it meant that all was forgiven and right in the world. By this point, Jaden had given up trying to understand what was going on and was staring at them owlishly.

"Uuh…?" He looked between the other two girls who had also been staring at the bluenette. Although their looks were more of the 'not again' variety rather than the 'what the hell?' kind.

"Don't mind Miho. She's always like that around cute boys. I'm Alexis and this is Tea, by the way. Nice to meet you…?" The blonde held out her hand to Jaden who blinked some more before finally taking the offered hand.

"Uh. Jaden. Nice to meet you?" Jaden winced. He hadn't meant it to sound like a question but these girls were starting to freak him out a little. Jaden tried not to let his anxiety show, but he wasn't fast enough. Alexis smiled comfortingly, seeming to understand what Jaden was thinking.

"Nice to meet you Jaden. Sorry for the rough welcome. First impressions are hard, right?" She smiled again and Jaden could feel some of the tension fall away. He smiled and shook Alexis' hand with confidence; it looked like he still had a chance after all.

Alexis looked to Tea who was still frowning at the other brunette, although thankfully no longer glaring death at him. "It's not every day we get a new student, is it Tea?" Alexis let Jaden's hand go to shoot the other girl a look. Tea huffed a little, obviously still mad. The blonde continued to stare before Tea finally dropped her arms and sighed again. She held out her hand to Jaden with a sour face.

"I'm…sorry. I guess I overreacted a little bit." She glanced over at Alexis then back to the slightly shocked boy. "It's nice to meet you Jaden. I hope we can still be friends." A small, slightly forced smile graced the previous Crazy Lady's face.

Jaden cautiously took the proffered hand, becoming more confident when Tea's smile grew. She seemed to be more sincere now that they had made up. Jaden was surprised when she released him and clapped, bouncing in place a little.

 _Holy—she goes from zero to sixty like…crazy. Huh, maybe 'Crazy Lady' wasn't too far off after all…_

"So you're new, huh? Did you transfer or something? You don't look young enough to be a new freshman from one of the middle schools." Jaden smiled good naturedly at the sudden questioning. It was certainly better than the yelling from before.

"Actually, I'm a senior. I convinced my dad to let me go to public school for my last year. Wanted to feel normal for once before getting my diploma, y'know?" Miho's eyes seemed to sparkle, zeroing in on the boy.

"Oooh! Did you go to a private school? You must be incredibly rich or something right? Are you a millionaire?" Jaden chuckled, slightly uncomfortable. Miho didn't seem to notice his discomfort, completely serious and innocent. The other two girls shook their heads.

"Come on, Miho. Leave the kid alone. Besides, what about Honda? Doesn't he usually carry your books or something?" Miho blinked, confused. She pouted cutely, a finger on her chin as she tried to think.

"But, the bell already rang, didn't it? He's usually here by now." She flashed a huge smile at Jaden, surprising the group at her sudden 'sanity'. Apparently Miho was the only one to hear the bell ring amongst their chatting. They hadn't even noticed that they were some of the last students in the hall. "So I'll need someone else to help me with my books. Right, Jaden?"

Jaden chuckled nervously, Alexis and Tea groaning in exasperation. Alexis gently reprimanded Miho for her 'man-eating ways', something that was going right over the bluenette's head, when Tea suddenly gasped.

"Omigosh! Miho's right! The bell just rang! We're late! Come on you guys, we gotta go." Tea grabbed Alexis' arm and started dragging her down the hall. Jaden stood there staring after them at a loss for what to do. He looked down at his schedule only for it to suddenly disappear.

"Looks like we have the same first class. Come on, don't wanna be late for your first day." Miho smirked playfully at the brunette before dumping her books into Jaden's hands. "And don't forget these!" Miho smiled, all innocent sweetness, before turning and heading to class. Jaden fumbled, slightly stunned and blindsided by the whole ordeal. Two minutes in public school and already he had three beautiful girls willing to help him. Or more accurately, two who wanted to help and one who wanted a new 'boy toy'. Jaden couldn't decide whether or not he should laugh at how his luck was turning out so far.

He stood there for a few more seconds before it finally sank in. He had friends. Jaden ran to catch up with the bluenette, feeling lighter and freer than he had in awhile. All thoughts of Divine, the Hero Department, and yesterday's fiasco were left behind. It was the first day of high school and Jaden only had one mission: make as many friends as possible. A grin threatened to split Jaden's face in half as he flew down the hallway.

 _Today is going to be awesome!_

By the time Jaden caught up with Miho, he barely had any time to prepare himself for his first 'real' public school experience. The rush of voices and the sound of the teacher trying to gain control was both exhilarating yet at the same time underwhelming. _Somehow everything seems a bit too normal to be real._ Jaden mentally shrugged. _I guess that's what I wanted. But still…_

Miho took her books back and made her way to her seat, practically swallowed by the group of guys suddenly all standing around her. Jaden was left high and dry at the front of the classroom. A few people nearest the front just stared back at him as Jaden stood there at a loss for what to do.

"Jaden! Come sit by me! We can share notes and stuff." The mob of guys parted enough for Jaden to make out the empty seat Miho was gesturing to. Relieved, Jaden walked over and dropped his stuff next to the seat.

"Thanks Miho." The girl smiled back at him. _She's actually pretty considerate, I guess._ Jaden smiled back in thanks and sat down.

"Hey, Miho! That's my seat! We always sit next to each other." One of the guys standing around Miho's desk complained. The guy shot Jaden a glare before turning back to Miho beseechingly.

 _It's like he's begging for a Lady's favor. Does that mean Miho is the 'it' girl?_ Jaden glanced around the class and found that _all_ the guys were surrounding Miho's desk. _She's practically holding court. I guess she is a Lady._ Jaden chuckled to himself. He was cut short when he noticed that now all the guys were glaring at Jaden and his 'coveted' position. Just when Jaden had decided to move to somewhere else to avoid a scene, Miho spoke up.

"But you always sit there, Tristan. It's getting boring." Miho pouted, practically tearing up. Tristan clutched his heart dramatically looking like he just might have a heart attack on the spot. "Besides, Jaden is new and it wouldn't be very nice of you to not let us sit together. After all, I'm his only friend right now. You'll help me, won't you?"

Jaden wasn't entirely sure what was going on anymore but he was definitely shocked when the group of guys, including Tristan, all immediately started assuring the teary eyed girl that they would do anything to protect her.

 _When did this become the Knights of the Round Table? Are they gonna go slay a dragon in her honor next?_ Eventually the mob dispersed leaving a very confused Jaden and a suspiciously innocent looking Miho. Tristan practically shoved another guy out of the seat directly behind Miho. Jaden tried to smile at him in apology but only got more glares in return. _I guess this makes me the favorite right now. I'm sure the guys aren't_ that _serious about where we sit…_

As the class went on Jaden tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. He had already drawn enough attention for one class period and just hoped it wouldn't stop him from making friends with everyone. His plan only worked partially the way he wanted. Slowly the rest of the class stopped turning to stare and began to pay attention to the teacher. Yet by the time the bell rang Jaden felt as if his shirt would catch on fire from the force of Tristan's glaring.

After the bell rang Jaden packed his stuff away and followed Miho out of the room once again laden with her books, the weight of Tristan's stare still on his shoulders. Jaden sighed. It was going to take some doing to make Tristan and the rest understand that he wasn't into the bluenette like that. _And so the dreaded High School drama begins._ Jaden tried not to feel the sudden anticipation at the thought, but couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect.

* * *

Jaden stepped into his next class and was struck by three things in quick succession.

First, complete and utter silence that almost made him believe there wasn't actually anyone in the classroom at all. He was proven wrong when the second thing, an eraser, landed on his head with a thump and a cloud of white dust which resulted in the third: a wave of laughter from the apparently very full classroom.

Jaden blinked owlishly, stuck in place by sheer confusion before the chalk dust finally made him sneeze. The laughter only grew louder when the sneeze, instead of shaking off the dust, only made it worse. Now the only parts of him _not_ covered in white powder were his pants and shoes. His upper half was doing an excellent impression of a ghost.

"Dude, that is priceless!" Jaden looked up between sneezes and could just make out a guy with moppy blonde hair high-fiving some other guy. While the rest of the students were sitting in their seats, these two were standing in the back by the windows. Most likely the best place to escape the wrath of their 'victim'.

 _They were probably aiming for the teacher._ Jaden glanced over to the desk at the front to confirm that the teacher had not, in fact, shown up yet.

As the class settled down, going back to whatever people did before class, the two guys in the back, one of whom Jaden could now tell was actually Tristan, continued to laugh and joke at Jaden's expense. They were completely oblivious to the kid they had pranked still standing awkwardly in the doorway.

 _I wonder if they do this every day. It didn't seem like anyone was really shocked…well, besides me._ Eventually the two stopped laughing and ducked their heads together, most likely already scheming their next prank. _I guess teachers are targets too. I bet they wouldn't be so high and mighty if they had a taste of their own medicine._

Any plans of revenge on resident school punks were interrupted when a loud voice boomed from behind him.

"All right everybody! Cool your jets, it's time to get this party fired up! Sit down and get ready to learn!" Jaden yelped and jumped into the room to more snickers from the class. The teacher just blinked, because who else could it really be?, before smiling bemusedly. The man turned to the class and smirked.

"Ya gotta try harder than that, Jounouchi!" The blonde flinched but recovered quickly, looking downright scandalized.

"How come ya pickin' on me, teach? I ain't done nothin'!" The teacher barely had time to raise a brow in question before Tristan stood to attention.

"As School Beautification member and officer Tristan Honda, it is my duty to inform you, sir, that it was in fact Jounouchi who put the eraser over the door." Jaden tried not to laugh. Jounouchi's face was murderous.

 _No honor among thieves I guess._

"Traitor…" the blonde mumbled. Honda didn't seem to notice, or at the very least didn't care. He was still standing at attention, waiting for the teacher's approval.

 _He's like a puppy._ Jaden smiled a little, imagining a little dog waiting patiently for a pat on the head for bringing in the newspaper. The two troublemakers were becoming less and less of a threat in Jaden's mind. _Maybe I was giving them too much credit as the 'school bullies'._

The teacher chuckled good naturedly and gestured for Honda to sit. Evidently he agreed with Jaden's silent observation of puppy-ness.

"Now that that's out of the way, why don't you take a seat and we can get this show started!" Jaden was prepared for the shouting this time so he didn't jump, at least, but he kept his spot at the front of the room.

"Aren't I supposed to introduce myself?" Jaden hadn't really had a chance to try the 'introduction' thing and it was his first chance to try and stop any rumors about him. Well…to stop any _more_ strange rumors. It was the teacher's turn to blink this time. A bright smile lit up his face and Jaden couldn't help but smile as well.

"I like your spirit, kid! Go for it!" He punched the air, gave Jaden the thumbs up, and collapsed at his desk with his feet propped up and arms behind his head. As if that was the natural way a teacher sat at a school desk.

 _Whatever else happens, I think I'm gonna like this guy._

Turning back to face the class, he found that he once again had their undivided attention. Butterflies swarmed in his stomach. Jaden attempted to clear his throat to buy some time, but only succeeded in causing himself another coughing fit. Blood rushed to his face in embarrassment. At this rate, Jaden was going to end up a laughing stock. Everyone continued laughing, under their breaths this time, but still enough to elicit another outburst from the teacher.

"Quiet down y' numbskulls!" Jaden got another thumbs-up and brilliant smile combo (did his teeth just…sparkle?) but it didn't do much to cheer him up this time.

 _Come on Jaden, you can do this. They're just a bunch of teenagers! You've faced worse, now talk already!_

Jaden took a careful breath and smiled his best please-don't-hurt-me-I'm-one-of-you smiles. Apparently choking half to death wasn't the worst impression he could have given because a few people even smiled back.

"Hey guys! My name's Jaden Yuki and I'm new here at Duel Academy!"

"No shit, Sherlock!" Jaden spared a quick smile to the now pissy blonde before continuing.

"I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone and making as many friends as possible…"

"Yawn! Yer borin' me t' _death_!" Jounouchi was still chafing from the failed prank, but Jaden didn't let that stop him.

"Because this will be my first year attending a public school. So, please take care of me!" He knew everyone already knew that bit by now, but what else was there to say really? 'Hi, I spend my free time kicking butt as a big green duel monster?' Yeah, that'd go over well. They'd probably eat him alive if they knew that.

 _Not gonna lie, I'm really hoping they aren't the cannibalistic type…_

"So, wait…" This came from one of the girls in the front. "You've never been to a _real_ school before?" Jaden smiled and tried not to cringe.

"Nope. Completely homeschooled!" _And so it begins…_ Without any of the Girls around to back him up with their popularity bubble, Jaden knew the inquisition was about to begin.

TV sitcoms needed to do more research on homeschool kids making the transfer into the real world. They always depicted the new kid as being some backwater hick who didn't know the basic times tables, or at the very least, as a kid with so many health problems they would have been better off in a bubble. Jaden's classmates must have been watching the same shows.

The sudden wave of questions felt like it should have knocked him over. And, Jaden's lack of immediate response only spurred them on further. All of their questions were either some form of 'Why now? Why were you homeschooled?' or a sudden interrogation of the latest pop culture.

Jaden stammered as best he could but as soon as he seemed to answer one question, two more would pop up. One on top of the other until he was completely lost again. A now familiar and obnoxiously loud voice rang out over the onslaught.

"So what was wrong wit ya that you were homeschooled, huh? Ya got some weird disease or somethin'?" The questions from the rest of the class cut off. Everyone seemed to double take at the new kid and then back to the prankster, trying to decide if they wanted to be nice or if they really wanted to know too. Another guy sitting in the back was the first to recover from the silence.

"Yeah. Did the doctors decide that you were too contagious to be with the regular kids? Is that it?"

"Well, no…that's not really—"

"Yeah man! He even looks pale!"

"Do you think that means he's still contagious?" The room filled with anxious murmurs. Things were spiraling in a way that Jaden had not anticipated at all. He felt his hands clench in frustration.

"That's just the chalk! I'm fine, really! There is ab-so- _lutely_ nothing wrong with me." Jaden tried another smile. It had worked last time. It did nothing to stem the murmurs but did increase the number of students that thought pushing their chairs back would keep them safe from 'patient zero'.

"My dad just wanted to teach me himself, alright? Nothing wrong with that…" His hands were shaking at his sides and Jaden could feel his palms start to sweat. He knew it wouldn't be long before his voice would start to tremble too. It was gonna take a miracle to recover from this disaster. Jaden resisted looking to the teacher for help; it would only look like weakness to the horde of his peers.

 _I bet they can smell fear._

"Come on, guys. Leave the homeschooler alone." Honda said. He kicked Jounouchi under the desk, maybe to prompt him to stem the mob too. Jaden felt grateful for the help. Just _one_ person on his side was a great relief. If both of the thugs could convince the class to back off, they would.

The blonde backhanded the brunette and settled back in his seat, still miffed. He closed his eyes and reclined even further, completely at ease and totally ignoring the paranoia starting to escalate. Jaden could feel the teacher starting to move from his desk, most likely to intervene on the new kid's behalf yet again.

So not good. Jaden could kiss any street cred he would have had goodbye and watch his social life go down the toilet. He was already a glorified handbag for the girls; no one liked a teacher's pet.

"Just sit down already, homeskillet. Yer ramblin's puttin' me t'sleep." Jaden started. He hadn't expected Jounouchi to say anything, let alone give him an escape.

 _I guess today is just gonna be a whole bunch of surprises._ For some reason, that thought didn't help as much as it would have normally.

Jaden glanced back at the still, thankfully, seated teacher for permission before taking the last empty seat. The others were still side eyeing him, but at least a few had reverted back to laughing instead.

 _Who would have thought I'd rather be a joke than a freak?_

So far, public school was proving to be almost completely opposite from hero work. Jaden was still trying to figure out if that was a good thing by the time the bell rang.

* * *

Jaden made his way through the halls carefully, heading towards his third class. After finding Alexis and following her to their next class he had learned that news does indeed travel fast in high schools. Through the hallways and in their shared art class, everyone had been staring and or glaring at him. Well…staring at Alexis with pubescent lust and glaring at Jaden with ill-concealed envy.

 _It's not as if these three girls are the only ones in the whole school or something..._

Although there were some good things about the 'power of the popular'. There was almost an unspoken rule that no one was allowed to approach the reigning 'it girl' without her permission. So while everyone was glaring at him, at least no one was getting in his face like last time.

 _Well, almost everyone..._ Jaden smirked then, remembering the shaggy blonde who had slept all period before hurriedly painting something before the class ended. _That guy doesn't know how good he has it here. Dad would never let me sleep in 'class', let alone even_ have _an art class._

Jaden was grateful for everything that his dad had done for him, even taking time out of his schedule to teach him. But he was a very strict man and didn't like to give instructions twice. Fun things like art or drama were very much absent from Jaden's homeschool schedule. _"There are more practical things for you to focus on, Jaden."_

Jaden snorted. "I bet if he saw how awesome Alexis was with her charcoal he wouldn't be so sure." Her intense focus on her work made her 'popular bubble' completely unnecessary. Jaden had almost been afraid to tell her when the bell had rung because she was still going.

"Hey homeschool! How's it hangin'?"

Jaden sighed to himself before plastering on another fake smile, waving back at whoever had yelled. Laughter was his only response, followed by a shove that almost had him eating locker. Somehow the news of him being homeschooled his entire life had also spread around. Apparently, this was the most hilarious thing in the world to the school bullies. Jaden clenched his fists and jammed them into his hoodie front pocket. The last thing he needed was to let them get to him. 'Homeschool' was bad enough without being labeled as the guy with anger problems, too.

He really should have taken notes from all those day-time tv shows. Making sure people knew he had never been to a 'real' school before was supposed to make the other kids want to be his friend; if not for any other reason than to have him completely dependent on them for a social life. What said High School Status more than having another student under your complete control? What else was tv lying to him about?

Jaden was glad he had run into the girls first. Already Tea had backhanded a few kids for the name-calling. He wasn't sure how well he would have handled the thugs if she hadn't. Probably would have done a lot more than backhand them. Not exactly Hero behavior, but Jaden didn't think anyone could really blame him.

Said thugs were currently at the end of the hallway lobbing spit balls at passing students. Well, the blonde one was, anyway. And Jaden recognized Tristan from his first two classes. The brunette with the particularly 'sharp' haircut was just standing there watching and trying to look intimidating.

 _Typical._ Jaden rolled his eyes as he walked by. _Looks like Shaggy is the brains and Sharkhead is the muscle._ Jaden felt a few spitballs bounce off his back with another added 'homeschool' to match. _Seems like my 'favorite' status doesn't work when the girls aren't here. Oh well, I can handle a little teasing._ Jaden took a few deep breaths to center himself and not retaliate.

"Lookin' good Syrus! Watch your head!" Jaden turned just in time to see a small blue haired kid get pelted with spitballs.

"Come on guys, knock it off! You know how long it takes to get this stuff out!" The kid, Syrus, pouted as he tried to defend himself with his textbooks. The guys just laughed at his efforts to dodge. Jaden hoped Shaggy would choke on his straw. The brunette ruffled the shorter teen's hair roughly, most likely trying to drive the spitballs deeper into his hair.

"Hurry up and get out of here. You're gonna be late, man." Honda pushed the bluenette farther down the hall. Syrus dodged a few more spitballs from Jounouchi and ducked into Jaden's next class, just in time as the tardy bell rang, clearing out the halls. Jaden smirked when he heard a teacher start yelling, presumably at the spitball-twins.

 _Serves them right._ Jaden thought smugly. _Now is the perfect time to swoop in as the loveable goofball and save the innocent victim from the evil school bullies._ Jaden's smile took on a slightly more impish slant. _Thus solidifying us as Best Friends Forever._

Hope and nervous anticipation both rushed Jaden at the prospect of securing his first real male friend.

Making friends with the girls was great and all, but he could tell that he didn't quite fit in with them yet. They talked to him between classes, defended him when they saw he needed it, but it didn't feel like friendship. It felt like he was their little brother or a small animal that needed to be coddled.

 _More like their little sister, maybe. I do_ not _want to spend the rest of the year rating the 'yummiest boy booty in school'._ Jaden shuddered.

"Guy friends. I need some regular guy friends." Jaden tried to psych himself up before walking into the room. Tea apparently also had this class, and was trying to flag him down to sit at her table. Jaden spared her a quick glance before focusing on the blue haired boy. He'd have to make sure to talk to her later to make sure she knew he wasn't trying to snub her or anything. At the very least, Jaden could feel the tension in the classroom dissipate a little. Without Jaden, the potential suitors had a clear shot at Tea.

 _That's one improvement already._ Jaden smiled to himself and refocused on his real goal.

Syrus was sitting by himself at one of the long science tables. His head was hanging down, his shoulders hunched, and hands clenched in his lap. Jaden frowned at the obvious defensive behavior. The kid's body language showed that he was trying to make himself a smaller target; trying not to make eye contact with any potential bullies.

Maybe it wasn't so surprising that he sat alone.

Jaden had been experiencing being a target all day. His whole life actually, but there were different rules as a civilian. In the field, all you had to worry about was getting attacked by the giant duel monster. Here, an enemy could be lurking around any corner, just waiting for you to let your guard down. The butterflies disappeared from Jaden's stomach to be replaced with a steely resolve. This wasn't just about making friends. This was about standing up to an institution that supported oppression. No one should have to live in fear in a place that was supposed to be safe.

This wasn't about making Syrus _his_ friend. It was about being a friend _to Syrus_.

Jaden's confidence swelled. This was what being a hero was about. This was what he was supposed to do with his life. He was determined to make a difference in any way he could. Not just because it was his job, or because he wanted people to appreciate him. But because it was the right thing to do.

Slowly, so as to not startle the kid, Jaden walked up to Syrus' table. It was situated all the way in the back corner; perfect for keeping an eye on any incoming threats as well as preventing sneak attacks from behind. Jaden could tell that he wasn't unnoticed by the way the bluenette's shoulders grew tenser when he finally stopped at the empty seat.

"Yo! This seat taken?" The kid jumped. Syrus glanced up quickly before gathering his things and scooting to the far end of the table. Jaden sighed in slight relief but didn't let himself relax yet. He might not be seen as enough of a threat to make the kid run away, but cowering in fear wasn't that great either.

Jaden took the open seat, silently berating himself. _Yo? That's the best I can do? So lame. And what's with the shouting? Nice job, me._ He sighed again in slight frustration. First impressions might not be his strong point, but Jaden had yet to meet a person he couldn't win over with sheer determination. _Let's try this again._

"Hey, my name's Jaden. I'm new here." Jaden turned in his seat to face Syrus directly. Class was starting, but it seemed that no one had noticed that Jaden didn't care. Or more accurately, no one cared what the 'outcast table' did. Syrus didn't move other than to twitch again at the attention.

Jaden refused to be put off.

"Although most people are callin' me homeschool, or homeskillet." Jaden leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms behind his head. If he acted like it was no big deal to talk, then maybe the other kid would follow along. Jaden kept his eyes on the ceiling; the ball was in Syrus' court now.

There was something about the blue haired boy that made Jaden need to talk to him. It could be because he was the first person that he had seen get called out by hecklers specifically. The two thugs weren't especially harsh on the smaller teen, but their attention was also equally spread out to anyone else who got within range.

 _I guess we're just lucky. I can handle name calling and some rough housing. I've gotten-and_ given _-worse as Flame Wingman. This kid though…_ Jaden glanced over out of the corner of his eye. Syrus had begun to fidget a bit in his seat. _He looks so…breakable. Like a stiff wind would blow him to pieces._

"...Sy-Syrus. Nice to meet you…"

A surge of protectiveness swelled, only to be crushed quickly. This was the reason that he wanted to make friends with Syrus; he didn't want Alexis, Tea, and Miho to be overprotective with him. It wouldn't be fair to Syrus or himself if he did the same thing. They had the same problems. Probably. They were brothers in arms. United together against the forces of…evil?

Jaden thought about the thugs, comparing their bad-ness levels to his Hero work. Maybe not evil. It's not like they had destroyed a building full of deaf orphans or anything. Just a harmless misnomer. Wads of paper were easy enough to dodge and get rid of. Being tripped wasn't so bad, especially when they weren't that subtle about it. They weren't really thugs so much as they were just punks.

Something about that…revelation…lightened Jaden's mind. The bullies and thugs on tv did much worse than what he had seen so far. As long as it was just playful and harmless, he could handle it.

 _But as soon as they slash up my books and start spray-painting my locker, we're gonna have some serious words._

The teacher had just started talking about lab safety or something, Jaden wasn't really paying attention, which was good, because then Syrus spoke. He was so quiet Jaden almost missed it.

"Don't worry about it. They'll forget about you in a couple of days." Syrus looked up just enough for a small smile to peek through.

"Ya think so?" Jaden leaned back in his chair and blatantly ignoring the teacher in favor of talking. This time Syrus turned to face the other teen.

"Yeah. You're the new kid, so it's like having a new toy to play with for a little bit. It doesn't last long, though. I know from experience." Syrus was no longer hiding his face, but looking directly at Jaden. The brunette was also happy to note that most of the tension had disappeared from Syrus' shoulders.

 _Success! I'll fist pump later._

"They give you a hard time too?"

Syrus shrugged. "Yeah, at first. Then I made friends and things weren't so bad anymore. How about you? Have you made any friends yet?"

Jaden grinned.

"You bet! Two steps in the door and I already had a posse. What can I say? I'm a chick magnet." Jaden winked, jokingly. Syrus gaped.

"What?! Really?"Syrus chuckled. "You're too much Jaden. I wish I had that kind of luck with girls." Jaden laughed and smacked Syrus on the back. The bluenette gasped a bit, scrambling to keep his glasses on his face.

"What? A lady killer like you? I bet you have to beat 'em off with a stick!" Syrus fixed his glasses to look at Jaden incredulously.

"Wha-! Me?! You're just saying that, Jaden." Jaden internally face palmed. Syrus had retreated slightly back to his shut-off self.

"Well, maybe not with those spitballs in your hair. Need help, Sy?"

Syrus blinked, confused."Sy?"

Jaden copied the action, also slightly confused.

"Yeah. Your nickname. I just thought it, well, y'know…fit. You don't like it?" _Crap. Too much? Am I too clingy? Are nicknames for level 3 friends? What level am I right now? Is there a point system? What if…_

"No, it's fine. ...I-I like it." Syrus smiled and Jaden felt the pressure in his chest loosen. Being the friendship instigator was more stressful than he thought.

"But," _whoop, there's the butterflies again…_ "Only if I can call you Jay." It took a second for Jaden's mind to catch up. Syrus only smirked at him. When he finally caught on, Jaden laughed so hard that he drew the attention of the whole class. He only laughed harder when the added attention made Syrus squirm.

Jaden held out a fist, still giggling. The strange looks from the rest of the class not even registering besides the fact that he could tell that Syrus was slightly uncomfortable.

"You've got a deal, Sy." Jaden grinned so hard it took up most of his face. Syrus only hesitated for a second before bumping his fist with the brunette's.

"Deal, Jay." Jaden's sudden laughter was contagious; Syrus joined in and they were both finally reprimanded by the teacher. Syrus smiled abashedly and started to actually take notes for the class. Occasionally the two would glance over at each other and dissolve into laughter again.

It really was no wonder that they ended up setting their work station on fire.

* * *

"Well that was definitely the most fun I've ever had in a science class." Jaden strolled out of the classroom, completely at ease. Syrus hurried after him, his shorter stature not carrying him as far as his new friend.

"You set the table on fire! ...And I'm pretty sure that was your _first_ science class." Syrus muttered the second part almost to himself. If there was one thing he'd learned in the last hour, it was that Jaden would not be deterred from doing whatever he thought would be 'fun'.

"I know! Who knew public school would be so fun? I wonder what we'll do tomorrow." Jaden grinned over at Syrus, whose face had paled at the thought.

"Jaden! You have to be more careful! Someone could have really gotten hurt! Or at the very least, you might get detention next time." Syrus pouted a little, but Jaden just kept smiling. It was kinda funny that Syrus turned out to be such a worry wart. But Jaden was just so excited! Science classes definitely had the best stuff to mess with.

 _I wonder if I could convince dad to get me a science kit…do those things come with bunsen burners too?_

"Don't worry, Sy. I promise, I won't set anything else on fire. At least not on purpose."

"Why does that not make me feel better?" Syrus wasn't pale anymore, but he still sounded worried. Jaden's stomach decided to change the subject. Loudly.

"So, uh. Is it lunch time yet?" Jaden laughed kind of nervously. Syrus smiled a little, sighing slightly exasperatedly. The bluenette sped up a little to take the lead.

"Come on. The cafeteria is this way. You can sit with me and my friends. I promise they won't tease you too much." Jaden quirked an eyebrow at that, but brushed it off as being the 'new kid'.

"Sounds good to me. Lead on!" Jaden grabbed Sy's arm and charged down the hallway.

"Jaden!" Syrus was Jaden's unwilling captive until they finally burst through the large double doors of the cafeteria, with only a few shouted directions from the smaller teen. One thing the TV dramas got right was the cafeteria. All long lines of tables with the various cliques spread throughout. As well as the dreaded Cafeteria Lady doling out ladles of…something. Well, almost correct. There was a large group of shouting teens gathered around something Jaden couldn't see. _That can't possibly be a dance circle during lunchtime…could it?_

"Hey Sy, what's goin' on over there?" Jaden turned to his friend for help. It was much too soon to be spiraling in confusion already. _But if it is a dance circle, everything I know is a lie._

Syrus took one last gulp of air before looking up.

"That? Oh that's…that's just the bread bin. It's to test your draw power." Syrus finally collected himself to make his way towards the end of the food line, keeping a wide berth around the 'bread bin'.

"Your what power?" Jaden grabbed a plastic tray and followed Syrus' lead. He didn't pay much attention to what was put on his tray, but instead kept an eye on the crowd around the bin. It looked like people were taking turns picking out packages and walking away happy or dejected depending on the outcome.

"Well," Jaden shifted his focus back to his friend. "You know that Duel Academy is for teaching about Duel Monster Spirits and stuff right?" Jaden nodded, not quite sure what that had to do with anything.

"Well, lots of students want to graduate to become Pro-Duelers—"

"Really? I thought only people with strong dueling spirit could do that?" Jaden glanced back to the crowd. It looked like someone had gotten a really good one. _If there're that many people with strong abilities, how come the government hasn't gotten more help with Arcadia?_

"It takes a while for some people to develop enough strength to actually use the cards, but some students can even see their spirit forms." The two teens reached the end of the line and walked closer to the bin. Jaden looked down at his plate, only slightly surprised that the school lunch looked like sludge. _I wonder if this is the 'mystery meat' I've heard so much about…_

"The bread bin, though, is just a game of luck to see if they can train themselves to draw the card they need for a duel. You know, when they get that far. I'm not real good at it, but it's usually better than this stuff."

"You mean lunch is always the goo from the black lake? I think I'm gonna starve." Jaden made a face. He was slightly confused when Syrus laughed; he was completely serious about his dislike. Food is a serious matter.

"That's why everyone does the bread bin. Even if they don't want to be Pros. Even a liver sandwich is better than this."

"Aw man! I got eel and sourdough!"

"Sucks to suck, man! I'll trade you my corn beef and pumpernickel."

Jaden watched two students walk away bickering over their bread picks. "Doesn't sound like there's a lot of good ones in there." Syrus made a face as the two found a spot at the bin's edge.

"Still better than this stuff. Trust me. If you can, try to get the Golden Eggwich. I've heard it's the best in the bin, but I've only seen it once so far." Jaden's grin was sharp.

"That sounds like a challenge to me!" Jaden balanced his tray on the edge of the bin and rolled up his sleeves. He closed his eyes, raising a hand in the air. Deep breath in, deep breath out, and he plunged his hand into the bin as far as it could go. Jaden's tongue stuck out a bit as he concentrated.

"AHA!" Jaden wrenched his arm out of the bin, flinging sandwich bags everywhere. Syrus ducked but still managed to get hit in the head.

"Come on, Jay! Watch where you're flingin' that stuff!" Syrus looked up from the floor, hands still covering his head. Jaden scratched his cheek sheepishly.

"Sorry 'bout that Sy. Here, have this." Jaden tossed the sandwich he grabbed before turning back to the bin for another go.

"Wh-? Jaden! You got the Golden Eggwich on your first try! How'd you do that?!" Syrus jumped up next to his friend who was already shoulder deep in the bread.

Jaden shrugged, still concentrating. "I dunno. Just lucky I guess. You have it. I think I can find another one in here somewhere…" Syrus looked back and forth from the bread to the brunette. He held the bread to his chest, stars in his eyes.

"You really mean it, Jay?" Jaden grunted, completely absorbed.

"Sure thing, Sy. I'll meet you at the table, alright?"

"You're the best, Jaden!" Syrus rushed off somewhere, leaving his tray of gray mush behind.

The second one took a little more time, but Jaden managed to 'draw' another Golden Eggwich, no problem. _Either I'm really lucky, or this thing really_ is _a test of duel ability. I bet I could make a killing at poker._ Jaden whistled tunelessly to himself, scanning the room for his blue haired friend. He finally spotted him sitting with another blue haired kid and a guy wearing some kind of beanie. Jaden made his way over, making a mental note to count how many people had unusual hair colors in this school. Maybe it was a teenager thing that he should look into…

"Come on, kid. You know it's more fun at our table." The guy with the hat, sitting on one side of Syrus, draped an arm around his shoulders, snatching Syrus' glasses with the other. Syrus looked like he wanted to escape, but couldn't without sliding off the end of the bench.

"Heheh. Yeah. We have better connections than those losers you hang out with anyways. You don't want to be a nobody for the rest of your life, do you?" This was from the other blue haired kid sitting across from the other two. This one also had glasses, and would have been a good candidate for Syrus' brother, but something about him made Jaden's skin crawl.

"I-I'm not…that's not why…" Syrus shrunk into himself, obviously incredibly stressed, but didn't attempt to shake off the offending arm still trapping him.

"I mean, what would your brother think if he knew that his _baby_ brother was such a loser? I bet he'd die of shame." Syrus cringed. Even from where he was, Jaden could see that Syrus had started to shake. Jaden tried to speed walk over to help his friend, but was cut off by more students trying to get to the bread bin.

"…-ciety can make you stronger, right? We've all done it. It won't take much and it won't cost you anything important, really. Just sit with us from now on." Syrus was really shaking now.

Something wasn't right here. It didn't look like the two strangers were being overly aggressive, but whatever was happening didn't look to be alright with Syrus.

"Don't worry buddy, I'm—" There was a loud crash, followed by shouting.

"Watch where you're goin' you punk!" The cafeteria seemed to freeze, the tension rising as all heads turned to the table the three were sitting at. Well, where now only two of them were sitting. The guy that had trapped Syrus was now standing and sputtering in rage, covered in gray lunch goo.

"Ah, geez. Sorry 'bout that Rexy. I guess I didn't see ya sittin' there. My hand just kinda…slipped." Jounouchi stood over 'rexy', dangling his lunch tray in one hand. There was not an ounce of apology in his voice and everyone in the room knew it.

"Cut the crap, Jou! You did that on purpose! Argh! This stuff never comes out!" The guy whipped off his beanie to try and shake off some of the gunk, revealing a shock of lavender hair in the process. Jaden momentarily forgot the seriousness of the situation and just stared. _Alright then…teenagers have weird hair here…_

"I have no idea what yer talkin' about Rex. I honestly thought you were a trashcan with all that crap comin' outta yer mouth." Jounouchi's smirk was downright evil and sadistic; not one ounce of repentance in him at all. Rex was about to yell back when the other blue haired stranger also had a tray dumped over his head.

"Hey, Jou! You missed! _This_ one is the trashcan." Honda looked over the head of their newest victim to smirk at the blonde. The 'trashcan' was sputtering in his outrage, completely unable to form any kind of sentence.

Jounouchi dropped his tray with a clatter, the resulting clang startling a few onlookers to jump. The blond feigned a look of surprise, not paying any attention to the fact that he and Honda were the center of attention. In fact, he seemed to be drawing from that. Like he was putting on a show to humiliate the other two.

"Oh, yer right! My mistake! Here, let me help you two out." Jounouchi grabbed the two trays still on the table and dumped them over the bluenette's head.

"There ya go Weevil. You're finally living up to yer true calling." Jaden couldn't figure out if he wanted to laugh or try to stop them. On the one hand, bullying was wrong and he shouldn't endorse it, even if Syrus was saved in the process. On the other hand, Weevil and Rex's faces were _priceless_.

 _Are they fighting over who gets the rights to bully Sy? Is this school not big enough for the four of them?_ Jaden's visions of cowboy shoot-outs were interrupted by more yelling from the bug guy.

"That is it, Wheeler! You're on our list now! You better watch your back from now on. We _will_ get our revenge." There must have been something else going on that Jaden didn't know about. Whatever tension there had been before had somehow tripled in thickness. Jaden was surprised that he couldn't actually see his breath with how cold the room felt.

"Yea yea, whatever beetle brain. Scurry off already, would ya?" Jounouchi was unaffected, looking bored and all together done with the incident. He continued acting nonchalant through the venomous glares the two were shooting him. Honda seemed equally indifferent to the situation, simply helping Syrus up and away from the table.

"You're gonna regret this Wheeler!" The two goo-covered teens stormed out of the cafeteria, somehow managing to make the swinging doors slam shut. _Huh, nice. Gotta admit, they know how to storm out in a huff._ Jaden turned back to the table to find Jounouchi staring back at him. The brunette tried to stay still under his scrutiny, suddenly worried he would be the next 'trash can'.

"You okay Syrus?" Jounouchi asked without breaking eye contact.

"Yeah, I'm fine Jou. It's no big deal. We were just talking." Jaden looked over at Syrus, now seated at an adjacent table with Honda. The smaller teen wasn't shaking anymore, but was still very pale.

"What're you guys gawkin' at? Show's over!" The blonde barked at the rest of the still gawking crowd. There was a great rustling as everyone jumped to look like they hadn't all been staring in shocked awe just a few seconds ago. Jounouchi turned without another glance at Jaden to sit with the other two boys.

Jaden shifted anxiously still a few feet away. Now that Syrus had been commandeered by the two punks, he wasn't sure if he was welcome anymore. Syrus was his friend now, but it looked like the other two were also. They seemed to be on the same team just a few seconds ago, at least in Jaden's mind, but they hadn't exactly been on the best of terms earlier that day.

"Hey homeskillet!" Jaden jumped. "Get yer butt over here already!" Jounouchi had sat across from Honda, leaving the other seat next to Syrus open. Jaden barely paused to think about the strange invitation before plopping down on the bench.

"Man! First day and already those two are up to their old tricks! Don't they get it that no one wants to join their stupid club?" Jounouchi slumped on the table, his arms stretched all the way across and just barely avoiding smacking Honda.

"Dude! Watch where you throw those things!"

"Aw shut up, Tristan." While Jaden watched the two bicker, Tea, Alexis, and Miho filled the rest of the available seats at the table.

"That was quite the spectacle, Jou. Although, I don't think the lunch lady will forgive you for wasting all her hard work." Alexis poked at her food with a small smirk.

"Why do you guys even eat this stuff? You should just bring your lunch like I do." Tea unwrapped her boxed lunch. There wasn't even a competition of which was obviously the more edible food. Miho looked at it longingly.

"I wish I had something good to eat too." Miho pouted. Tea rolled her eyes, moving her lunch away from the other girl. Honda perked up, his whole demeanor changing.

"Don't worry Miho! You can have my lunch!" Jaden covered a snort. He had almost forgotten how much like a puppy the sharkhead could be. Miho just pouted some more.

"But Honda's lunch is gross too." Honda's face fell, completely crushed.

"Pfft! Haha! Foiled again, Tristan!" The blonde grinned at Honda who just glared at him before turning back to Miho.

"Don't worry, my fair Miho! Honda will get you the best sandwich!" The brunette practically leaped over to the bread bin. Jounouchi followed after, something about 'wasting good food on trashcans'.

Jaden looked over to the girls, partly confused and amused. "My fair Miho?" Alexis chuckled.

"You get used to it. Tristan's had a crush on Miho since middle school. He'll do practically anything for her." Alexis explained. Her expression was one of a long suffering mother constantly plagued by mischievous children. Jaden looked back to see Jounouchi and Honda throwing sandwiches at each other but mostly hitting other students. Alexis shook her head good naturedly. Apparently it was an everyday occurrence that those two caused a scene like that.

Tea just rolled her eyes again. "Yeah, and she knows it too." Tea pointed her fork at Jaden warningly. "Don't let her fool you Jaden. She's a maneater." Tea and Jaden looked over at Miho who gazed back with wide eyes.

"Are you talking about Miho?" Miho looked around uncomprehendingly. Tea squinted and leaned over to whisper 'maneater' before going back to her lunch. When Tea looked up again to wink at him, Jaden was beyond confused.

"So, uh, I guess you guys are all friends, then?" Jaden looked around at the group. They all seemed to be getting along well despite the fact that their group was half cheerleader and half wannabe-gangbangers. Said thugs came back to the table, Honda dejected and without a sandwich and Jounouchi happily hoarding all the 'failures'.

"Of course. We all grew up together. My brother Atticus and Syrus' brother Zane always hung out because of school and the rest of us kinda…came along too." Alexis glanced at Jaden curiously.

"Woah, hold on a sec! Are you saying that your brother is Zane Truesdale?! The Pro-Dueler? I heard he's ruthless!" Jaden turned to Syrus, surprised. Said bluenette seemed to be recovered from the incident enough to smile almost enthusiastically.

"He's not that bad. He just doesn't like losing, so he tries his best not to." Jaden was stunned.

"A-and your brother is Atticus Rhodes? The Motoracer? Doesn't he ride in the same league as the King?" Jaden's voice was rising with excitement, but he couldn't seem to control himself. This was amazing! Alexis stared back before laughing out right.

"Pfft! Yeah, I guess. I don't really talk to him much; he has a large…personality. I take it you follow the Motoracing circuit?"

"You bet! They're so cool! I wish I could race like that some day! Can you imagine how awesome it would be to go that fast?" Alexis laughed some more at Jaden's enthusiasm. Even Tea was affected enough to crack a smile.

"Ya think that's cool? We used t' hang out wit the King of Games." Jaden gaped at the blonde. Jounouchi smirked haughtily around a mouthful of sandwich.

"You're _friends_ with Yugi Mutou?!"

"You know it, shrimp." Jounouchi grinned, milking his superiority over the new kid. Jaden slumped back into his seat, well and thoroughly stunned. He knew they were all enjoying his reaction to the news, but he couldn't seem to care.

 _Oh. My. God. I knew Neo Domino City was a small world, but I didn't know it was_ that _small. If they know that many duelers, would they know the other high class people in the city?_ Jaden stiffened with the sudden revelation that they could already know who he was.

 _Goddamnit. Not one day and my cover is already blown._ Jaden tried to subtly gauge the others reactions. They all seemed caught up in their own conversations about Pro-Dueling and not Arcadia. If they did know who he was, they were hiding it really well.

"I don't know why you guys are all caught up on the duelists when the Hero Department has all the cool stuff." Jounouchi said. Jaden could almost swear that his blood really did leak out of his face and into his shoes. _Theyknowtheyknowtheyfreakinknow!_

"Whatever man. You _know_ Security does all the really hard work." Honda pointed at the blonde.

"No way! Have you _seen_ them in action? There is no way that the weak-sauce Security can do _half_ the stuff they do." Honda fumed a little before suddenly turning to glare at Syrus and Jaden, still quietly sitting there.

"What about you two?! Which is better, the Security or the Heroes?"

"It's totally the Heroes, right homeschool?" Jounouchi and Honda stared the two down like their answers would solve world hunger.

"Uh, well. The Security office has an important role to fill, but so does the Arcadia Department…so, both?" The two taller teens looked at each other before they both shouted 'wrong!'.

"You have to make a clear decision, so that doesn't count!" Honda directed his piercing gaze to the bluenette next.

"W-well, I really like the Scarlet Witch so…the Heroes?" Syrus shrunk back a bit. Everyone at the table, however, jumped when Jounouchi leapt in the air with a whoop.

"Ah yeah! That's right! Eat _that_ Tristan!" Honda 'hmphed'.

"Yeah, whatever."

The two went back to their bickering discussion of dueling, completely ignoring the rest of the table yet again. As lunch went on, Jaden became more and more relaxed around them. _So this is what it's like to have friends with a secret identity. Panic attacks and sandwiches._ When the bell rang for lunch to end Alexis and Tea had managed to bully Jou ("Stop callin' me 'Jounouchi', we're friends aren't we?") into easing up on the 'new kid bashing'. Miho only had to pout a little to get the same result from Honda.

"I swear by my sacred duty as Hall Monitor and future Public Security Bureau Officer that I will always look out for those in need!" Honda stood at attention with a fist over his heart. He only relaxed when the girls had disappeared around the corner. Even then it was with a love-struck look on his face.

Jaden laughed quietly to himself. _This guy is too much._

"Really, man? Sounds a bit above yer paygrade, dontcha think?" Jou draped himself over the pointy haired brunette and they continued to argue down the hall. Jaden turned to go his own way when he heard Jou yell back.

"Keep yer eye out, homeschool! You're still the new meat, after all!" Jaden shook his head, suddenly fond of the obnoxious blonde. In less than a day they had gone from semi-enemies to lunch time buddies. Who knew what would happen by the end of the day?

Jaden cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted over the crowd of rushing students. "Whatever you say _Jounouchi_!" Whatever the other teen said after that was lost in the crowd. The young Hero walked to his next class whistling to himself.

 _I wonder if I'll meet anyone else today who's even_ half _as fun as those guys are._

* * *

The next day wasn't that much different than the first. Once again Jaden had forgotten his alarm and once again he chauffeured The Girls to each of their classes. Jounouchi and Honda continued to be annoying, but Jaden was grateful that their bullying hadn't escalated after the 'eraser incident'.

 _At least if they're bullying me, they won't have time for Syrus._ Although Syrus had said that he didn't really mind, Jaden wasn't so sure. The two boys only shared the one class, but Jaden tried his best to find the other between classes as often as possible. He didn't know what the smaller boy had gone through before Jaden arrived, but he was determined to make sure none of it happened again…whatever it was.

Jaden strolled into his next class, smiling to himself. Lunch had been just as entertaining as the day before. The good food and his good mood hopefully enough to get him through the hardest class of the day. He had thought that having math so early in the morning was bad, he hadn't been prepared for having to struggle through a food coma during a personal finance class.

A groan escaped the teen as he sat down at his desk. _Math is one thing, but a class with nothing but word problems? When will I ever even_ use _this stuff?!_

Glancing around the room, Jaden saw that things were once again the same as they were yesterday. The oppressive atmosphere that came with a tough teacher and a tougher class descended over the students as they waited for class to start. The guy in the back once again glowering at everything and everyone, and the front-middle seat was once again avoided by everyone as well.

 _I can understand why that desk is dangerous. No one in their right mind wants to be called on in here._ Jaden glanced back at the guy in the back. There was something about him that seemed really familiar although Jaden could swear that he'd never seen him before. _What I don't get is what this guy has against smiling…or maybe he just reeeaally likes frowning..._

Jaden jumped when said frowner glared directly at him. _Oops, busted._ Jaden tried a small wave but only go an angry 'pft' in return. At that point the teacher had walked in and had already started writing on the board. By the time Jaden had finally given up trying to understand the problems on the board, he had completely forgotten about the consistent glaring of the black-haired teen.

Trying not to get caught this time, Jaden peeked back to see how the guy was doing. _Maybe he's just frustrated like the rest of us…_ Jaden's eyes bulged, whipping back to the front of the room. _He's not even_ pretending _to take notes!_

Jaden looked down at his notebook. It was covered in numbers and letters that slowly morphed into confused squiggles. Jaden's head hit the desk in defeat. He could feel a headache building. This class was going to be the bane of his existence. He could just _feel_ it.

 _Dad is sooo going to kill me if I fail. Then I'll be trapped back at home, probably with_ double _the finance! And nobody to share in my misery…_

When staring at the board, unblinkingly, for the rest of class didn't yield any results, Jaden finally came up with a new idea. If the angry guy was so smart to not need to take notes, maybe he would share?

 _Or if he's as clueless as me, maybe he can teach me how to fake it through a test._

When the bell rang, Jaden shoved his things haphazardly into his bag to catch up with his target. For a guy who had just spent the whole hour glaring out a window, he was surprisingly fast.

"Hey guy! Wait up! I got a question for you!" Jaden dodged and squeezed his way through the halls before catching up.

"What the hell do you want?" The Angry Guy crossed his arms and glared down his nose at Jaden. He wasn't even that much taller than the brunette, but somehow he made it work.

"Ah, well. I was just wondering if…y'know. You could help me out with this?" Jaden scrambled to pull his roughed up notebook out of his bag. He presented his poor notes for inspection. "I mean, it looked like you knew a lot in class so I was hoping—"

"Help yourself, slacker. Do you even know who I am? I've got better things to do than hold your hand through such an easy class!" He turned, his long white coat snapping behind him.

 _If he were a girl, I bet he would have flipped his hair at me…_ Jaden sighed in defeat before heading off to the locker rooms. At least he had one class he was actually _good_ at for a confidence booster.

* * *

Jaden almost face palmed his way to a concussion. He had completely forgotten that the Angry Guy was in his gym class. Although it was understandable considering the guy spent the whole period lounging on the bleachers. Even in the same gym clothes as everyone else, the other teen somehow still managed to look 'suave' and 'aloof'.

 _I'd almost peg him as the 'school stud' if he weren't so moody. Maybe he's the 'loner' type…_

The teacher had just announced a game of dodgeball when Angry Guy gave a huff and made his way over to the bleachers. The teacher didn't even attempt to get him to join in. Jaden was just contemplating what it would take to get him to _not_ frown when he was called.

"Hey, new kid!" Or at least, he assumed they were talking to him. How many new kids could there possibly be? Jaden turned to find two guys he hadn't noticed before walking towards him.

"You're gonna be on our team, y' got that?" Jaden blinked. A little blindsided. It was the first time someone had taken the time to instigate something other than bullying. Even weirder? They were definitely the 'trashcan guys' from lunch the other day. They had harassed Syrus at lunch, gotten harassed by the other punks-turned-pseudo-friends in turn, and now they were asking him to play a game with them?

 _That's it, everything I know is a lie. Nothing makes sense. Right is wrong, up is blue…_

"Uh…"

"Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on you." This from Weevil. "Dodgeball can be a dangerous game if you're not careful." He laughed, a little bit nastily.

"Thanks…I guess?"

"Just don't make us lose and we'll get along just fine. Got it?" Rex smiled predatorily. Jaden blinked back at him before smiling his own determined grin, game face firmly in place.

If their warnings were anything to go by, then the things he had heard about dodgeball were all true. Gym was the one class where the lines between competition and physical violence were blurred and dodgeball was the king of war sports. From the way other students started to line up behind the two boys, Jaden could tell that he had been recruited for the 'veterans' team.

"Alright newb! Show us what you got!"

Jaden smirked. _Finally, a chance to put my Hero training to work!_

The whistle blew and the two teams rushed into battle. Red rubber balls flew like missiles across the court, hitting targets left and right. The _PANG!_ of contact rang throughout the gym. A few groans of pain were barely heard above the shouting of war.

Adrenaline pumped through Jaden's veins, fueling his actions. He dodged sloppy throws, deeming them too easy targets. Jaden snagged a ball and launched it at a player in the back who also had a cannon.

"Bam! Right in the kisser! Way t' go, newbie!" Jaden deflected another ball and looked towards the shouting.

The bluenette had organized a row of players in front of himself and was shouting out directions. He looked even shorter when compared to everyone else, but he made up for it with his excellent supervision. Rex was also behind the wall but would occasionally take a few foot soldiers out of the wall to retrieve loose balls. One such excursion ended up losing them a few of their players, but it did get them more ammunition for their fortress.

Jaden found he was the only one out in the open on their team. He had been too focused on the action in front of him that he hadn't noticed.

 _I guess that's why there are so many aiming at me._ While their strategy led to a very big target, Jaden had to admit it was very effective. Jaden winced when one of the defenders took a ball straight to the face. _A very BIG target._

By the time the game had ended, Jaden had worked up a decent sweat from all the dodging. He wasn't surprised to note that the two boys were mostly unruffled. Looking around, the same couldn't be said for the rest of the class. A few were sent to the nurse for ice while those who were left over gave the three a large berth.

The two other teens didn't seem to pay them any mind, simply congratulating Jaden on a job well done.

"Man, that was awesome! From now on yer gonna be on our side. I'm Rex by the way. And that shrimp is Weevil. Welcome to the team, dude." Rex slapped Jaden on the back, making him choke.

"Gee, thanks guys." Jaden rubbed the back of his head. He really hadn't done that much, but it was a relief to know they appreciated whatever he had done. _I guess they didn't see me at lunch with the other guys yesterday. New friends? I guess?_

"Not bad, slacker. Looks like you're not _completely_ useless." The Angry Guy had left his perch on the bleachers.

"Uh…" Before Jaden could think of a good comeback, Weevil interrupted.

"Don't mind him, Chazz is always like that." Said Chazz shot Weevil a small glare. Deciding he wasn't worth the effort, the taller teen walked away towards the locker rooms.

"Say, why don't you sit with us at lunch tomorrow? New kid like you probably doesn't have a lot of friends, right?" Weevil asked.

 _Nope. Definitely don't know I sat with the other punk kids…and the Girls. And Syrus._ Jaden paused. Maybe that was why they were being buddy buddy. Was he another 'mark' like Sy? But then, why were they being so nice?

"Yeah, it'll be fun." Rex draped an arm around Jaden's shoulders and steered him towards the lockers.

"Sure! Why not? Mind if I bring Sy with me?" The two other boys shared a look before quickly agreeing.

"No sweat, man. Bring whoever you want." With a final wave and a promise to meet them tomorrow, the three parted ways. Jaden changed quickly and made his way to his last class.

 _If things keep going like this, school is going to be a breeze...or a complete clusterfuck..._

* * *

 **I'm just going to apologize now for switching between 'Honda' and 'Tristan'. More writing at 3 in the morning, but I'll try to do my best to make sense. Once again: the slowest of burns in every way. If you enjoyed, let me know.**

 **Also, Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, the works** **. I have chapter 3 lined out, just need a little push. Feel free to encourage with a review. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

DUEL Heroes

"Hey Homeschool! You know what day it is?"

Jaden tried to blink the sleep out of his eyes. He'd stayed up all night in an attempt to get to school on time for once. It worked up to a point. He'd made it with time to spare, but was _way_ too tired to keep up with Honda's weird questions.

"Uuuuh….Wednesday?" Honda's grin grew. Either it was just him, or Honda wasn't even looking at him. Jaden only had a split second to worry before his jacket was pulled over his head.

"Wuh-?!"

"HUMP DAY!" The sudden weight on his shoulders almost forced Jaden to the ground. He staggered to keep his balance and to literally save his face.

Jou had, apparently, snuck up behind him while Honda was distracting him. Jou then blinded him with his own jacket, practically pushed him down, and leap-frogged over the helpless brunette to land next to Honda.

 _Actually kinda impressive, I guess. I bet the basketball team hounds him every day to join their team._ It was probably because of his sleep deprived brain that he suddenly imagined Jou running through the halls and being chased by all the athletic teams on campus.

"I wonder if this school has an equestrian team…" Jaden muttered-hopefully-to himself as he struggled to free himself from his jacket. As soon as he did his head was attacked yet again, this time in the form of hair tussling.

"What's up Homeschool?" Jaden pushed Jou's hand away from his hair. Jou smirked and lightly punched Jaden's shoulder. Which, of course, devolved into all three guys pushing and shoving each other around the slowly filling hallway. In the past two days Jaden had watched Jou and Honda mess with each other a lot and was incredibly pleased that he could do it too.

 _It's good to know I'm a 'let's mess around as bros' friend, not a 'let's mess with the weak weirdo' friend._ On top of that, Jaden had started to get a little restless. Even though gym class was a good way to relieve stress and energy, he couldn't really 'let go' the way he wanted to; being able to roughhouse with the guys helped a little though.

 _Might be time to go Hero soon. Startin' to feel a little…twitchy…_

"Hey, you guys seen Sy yet?" Jaden said from the headlock he had let Honda catch him in. Jou popped up from the floor to lean on Honda as well. The two shared a look before shrugging.

"Nope, not yet…wait, is that him over there?" Jou pointed towards the end of the hall causing Honda to turn and taking Jaden with him, still bent over in the headlock.

"No way. Are those two at it again? Really?" Jaden stumbled a bit when Honda suddenly let him go. When he looked up, both of the other boys were crossing their arms and glaring. Following their example, Jaden looked over to see the source of the sudden mood change.

Jaden might not have had a lot of real world experience but he had just enough 'school kid knowledge' to understand that Syrus did not look incredibly comfortable herded up against the wall by Rex and Weevil. There was no sign of Chazz yet, but that didn't seem to be stopping the other two boys from….doing whatever they were doing. He'd learned, from that first incredibly memorable lunch, that Rex and Weevil weren't the nicest guys to hang around with. Also, that Jou and Honda had some kind of hate/hate relationship with them. Jaden just hadn't learned why that was. Yet.

As far as he could tell, Rex and Weevil were both incredibly competitive dodgeball players and were two of the few students that were willing to talk to the new kid. Admittedly, first impressions never really go well for anyone, so it was possible that Jaden had jumped to conclusions the first day; that there were some things that he didn't understand about talking with people his own age. Jou and Honda liked to push and shove as a sign of friendship. Maybe when Rex and Weevil teased Sy, it also came from a place of love..?

Syrus shrunk into himself, almost sliding down the wall. Rex shoved Syrus, not at all the way Jou had done just a minute ago. Weevil and Rex then swaggered away before Jaden could confront them. Probably a good thing, too. He would have bet good money that Honda was about to rush in with his own brand of 'Hall Monitor Justice' if they hadn't.

 _Now isn't exactly the time for vigilante justice either._ Jaden took a second to just breathe and calm himself down. He had already told himself that he would give the other two boys a chance. Jaden may have already won himself a good handful of friends the past two days, but that didn't mean he had to stop _trying_ to make more. It just wasn't in his nature to write people off on first impressions.

 _Besides, if everyone did that I'm not sure Tea would have let me get away with just a slap that first day._

"So, uh, what's with those guys anyways? Are they just jerks to short kids or just the ones with blue hair?" When the guys were sure that Syrus had made it to his first class without any more trouble they finally turned to face Jaden again, although there was still some tension in the air.

"Psh, those losers? They're constantly trying to get people to duel them. Not that anyone here would. It's against school rules to use your own deck in training."

"Yeah. Wouldn't really work that way would it? Only way to _convert_ someone is steal their soul or some shit like that." Jou waved his hands around at the soul stealing bit. Jaden looked to Tristan to see if he was as confused as Jaden was, only to feel more put out to find him nodding along in agreement.

"Y'know, I heard Dinodork tried to dye his hair white but chickened out at the last minute. That's why he wears that stupid hat all the time." Jou started nodding as well.

"No way is that stupid purple thing natural. If they could get away with it, I bet they'd be handin' out pamphlets or somethin' too." Jaden continued to blink in confusion. Standing there with their arms crossed and Very Serious™ expressions, still nodding along, Jou and Honda looked like a couple of life-sized bobble heads.

 _I wonder if I could actually make that happen…but who would buy them besides these two dorks?_

"Uum? Guys?" Jaden jumped when the bobble heads came to life, both planting a hand each on Jaden's shoulders. Very Serious expressions still in place.

"Don't worry Jaden. We're on it." Tristan said-in his mind probably sounding very reassuring.

"Just don't listen to a word they say. It's all a load a' bull anyways." Jaden would have laughed if they didn't seem so…serious. An overall strange thing for the two pranksters.

"…no problem. I guess." Honda and Jou nodded, still super serious looking, before abruptly turning and heading to class.

"See ya later homeskillet!" Jou shouted over his shoulder, Honda waving without turning back.

Jaden wasted a few seconds to shake his head, a small rueful smile on his face.

"They may be dorks, but they're _my_ dorks." Jaden turned down a different hallway, hands behind his head and in no particular hurry. "I bet Sy would buy a bobble head…"

* * *

Once again Jaden sat next to Miho in their first class of the day. When Tristan finally made it as well he managed to get the seat on her other side. Minimal intimidation required.

 _I bet he forgot we shared first period. Seems like everyone has a flair for the dramatic around here._ Jaden snickered to himself.

After class, instead of meeting up with the other girls and walking them, and their books, to their classes, Tristan escorted him to the class they shared with Jou.

"Any other day, I'd fight you for the right to walk Miho to class. But since we're friends and all, I'll make an exception just this once. But you're on your own after this, alright?" Jaden was grateful for the company, but didn't miss his chance to tease the other brunette about his crush. Which of course meant that there was more messing around in the hallway that lead to Jaden forcing a piggy-back ride from Tristan to make it to class on time.

The whole period was spent planning things to do for the upcoming weekend and tentative plans for after school hang outs. There were apparently a lot of places around the city that Jaden had never heard of before that he just _had_ to check out with them sometime. When Jou was nailed in the head with a piece of chalk, expertly thrown by their ever-enthusiastic teacher, their talks devolved into pranks and revenge plots. Definitely the most fun Jaden had ever had in a math class so far.

Art with Alexis and Jou was much the same as the last time: Alexis painting yet another masterful piece of genius, Jou attaining new heights in snoring, and Jaden trying everything in his power to _not_ fingerpaint (no matter how much he _reeaaallly_ wanted to). It was looking to be one of the better days in Jaden's life when things decided to take a turn for the worse.

He'd forgotten his promised lunch plans with Rex and Weevil.

Jaden had almost convinced himself that they were just as bad as Jou and Honda said, based purely on the fact that he'd been hanging with them practically all day. But then, he'd also thought that _they_ were punks that first day too.

Walking to the science class Jaden shared with Sy, he saw Chazz, followed exactly two steps behind by Rex and Weevil. That was the other part of Jaden's confusion. So far, most of the hate had been reserved for 'dinodork and bugboy'. Jou and Honda hadn't mentioned the other brooding teen at all.

"So, uh, what were you guys talking about this morning? You know, about those guys?" Jaden gestured at the other trio of students just as they turned the corner. Jou straightened from his after-nap slouch. Alexis kept her head forward, ostensibly watching the traffic around her and completely disinterested, but her eyes were pinned to the other blonde.

"Why ya wanna know 'bout them, anyways? Didn't we already tell ya t' not worry about it?"

"Well, the thing is….I mean, they didn't…." Jaden huffed. They had come to the science room, but Jaden wasn't ready to let it go. Jou, Alexis, Tristan and the others were all his friends. He could understand them wanting to look out for him, it's what friends _do_. It's what Jaden would do; it's what Jaden _does_ as a Hero. The only thing that felt wrong was that Jou and Tristan almost refused to give him any indication for _why_.

"Jaden," Alexis looked between her friends and where Chazz had left. "Chazz is...complicated. It's better if you don't hang around him." Her words trailed off. She obviously felt the same way Jou did, but was reluctant to actively take his side.

 _Even_ she _sounds like she knows something! Why is this so hard?! It's just lunch for crying out loud._

"I'm sitting with Chazz and them at lunch today." Jou looked like Jaden had just slapped him in the face with a giant fish. Which would have been pretty funny if Jaden didn't feel like he had just told him Santa wasn't real. Alexis simply sighed the sigh of disappointed parents everywhere.

"I mean! It's not like I don't _want_ to sit with you guys. I actually really like hanging out with everyone at lunch…" Jaden was quick to explain. As crazy as things got during classes, lunch was a different matter entirely. Jaden felt like a part of something warm and inviting when everyone was together. He felt like he belonged.

Jou was still gaping at him, looking at him like he was a complete stranger, not a friend. Like Jaden was something strange and…unpleasant. There was no reprieve in Alexis' eyes either. In her eyes Jaden saw himself as a small child ignoring signs of 'bridge out ahead'. Jaden couldn't decide which was worse.

 _Oh man. I really screwed this up, didn't I? Need to fix! Backpedal! Apologize! Get on your knees and beg forgiveness! No, too much. Reel it in. Just start explaining._

"It's just that, they were kinda nice to me in gym yesterday. A-and Chazz doesn't seem that bad. I mean, he didn't talk much, but he seems pretty smart. I really don't think he's a bad guy. Just misunderstood." Jaden's voice got smaller the more he tried to explain. His reasons seemed flimsy when he said them out loud. Jou had switched to glowering at the floor, but something in Alexis seemed to soften.

"I just…I wanna give him a chance." Jaden muttered, shuffling his feet a little. He was anxious that they wouldn't understand, but Jaden refused to go back on his word.

When Jaden made a promise, he kept it.

Alexis and Jou exchanged a look. There was some shrugging and pointed glares, then a resigned sigh.

"Fine then. Y' wanna hang out wit' the Society freaks, be my guest. Just don't say we didn't warn ya." Jou shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and stormed off. Alexis sighed again and shook her head, turning to face an even more worried Jaden.

"Don't worry Jaden, we understand. We just don't want you to get your hopes up too high." Alexis said quietly. Jaden let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Even if Weevil and Raptor weren't part of the Society, they'd still be grade-A assholes. As far as Chazz goes...he might be a lost cause. His big brothers are very influential business leaders and they won't let their 'baby brother' be anything else than one of them."

Despite the less than glowing confidence from Alexis, Jaden tried to pull himself together. Not everyone was perfect. Maybe the two 'bullies' just needed a little more work. As for Chazz, some people just needed someone to talk to.

 _I bet he's so quiet and moody because he doesn't_ want _to be like them. Maybe he just needs a friend._ Jaden's determination grew. _I bet we'll be the bestest of friends ever!_

"Just promise me you won't take anything they give you. And don't believe a word they say, no matter what. Remember, you can always come and sit with us if things get too…you know." Jaden didn't know, but he'd do anything to get Alexis to smile. Even if it were in fond exasperation.

"I'll be careful, I promise." Jaden looked her in the eyes and smiled as sincerely as he could. It was a strange promise, but it was still a promise. And he was going to keep it.

Alexis kept eye contact for another second or two, then nodded. Her smile was small, with a note of nervousness in the corners, but it was there. She ruffled his hair a bit then strode off to her own class.

"I guess that settles that." Jaden planted his hands on his hips with a final nod to himself.

 _Now all I gotta do is figure out what the hell they were talking about..._

* * *

It took some convincing, but by the end of science class Syrus had agreed to eat lunch with Jaden, Chazz, and the others.

"I still don't get it, Jaden. One game of death—I mean _dodge_ ball and you're suddenly great friends?" Jaden slung an arm over the smaller boy's shoulders.

"Don't worry Sy. No matter what happens we'll still be the bestest of buds." Syrus still didn't look happy about the situation but allowed his new 'bud' to drag him to the table of other 'potential buds'.

 _Don't worry Sy, I got you._

When they got to the table Jaden immediately took the seat next to Chazz. The other boy huffed, otherwise Chazz acted as if there was no one else at the table let alone two new ones. Jaden smiled anyways and gestured for Syrus to take the seat on his other side.

"Hey four-eyes, sit over here!" Syrus was pulled down to sit between Rex and Weevil.

"U-uh. Okay…I guess." Syrus hunkered down as much as he could between the two boys. Trying to disappear on the spot wasn't really working out for him despite his best efforts.

"So, uh, what do you guys usually do for lunch? Any luck at the sandwich bin?" Jaden tried to pull attention to himself and away from Sy.

"Pfft. Yeah right. That thing's for losers who can't afford a _real_ lunch." Rex scoffed. "Right, Chazz?"

The whole table turned to Chazz for a reaction. Nothing.

Chazz continued to ignore them, sitting with his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

 _I bet the dark and moody thing would be a lot more impressive if he were actually sitting alone right now._ Jaden looked between Chazz, his 'hangers on', and the single empty seat at the end of the table. _Maybe he's_ imagining _he's sitting all alone. If he can't see us, then we can't see him, I guess._

"Heh. Yeah. Everyone knows the real talent is in dueling, not the 'luck of the draw' nonsense."

Weevil eventually broke the awkward silence.

"What loser decided _that_ was a skill? Are we supposed to believe that they can _feel_ when we want to use them? That monsters have souls or something?" Rex and Weevil laughed. Jaden recoiled before he could catch himself.

He knew some people didn't have the highest opinions of Duel Monsters, and he could respect that, but…Duel Monsters were a part of who he was. _Literally._ Jaden tried not to look too upset, hoping the others wouldn't notice how uncomfortable he was getting.

 _They can't possible think that Duel Monsters don't have souls…right? They're called duel_ spirits _for crying out loud!_

"Yeah! Next thing you know those monsters will have rights or something! Can you imagine one of those things trying to buy groceries?!" Rex slammed his hand on the table, making Syrus jump.

"It's a good thing people have started to see the Light." Weevil said once his laughter was under control.

 _The who and the what now?_ Jaden blinked, startled.

"When everyone has seen the Light we'll finally be able to put these stinkin' monsters back where they came from. Ain't that right, short stack?" Rex caught Syrus around the shoulders. Syrus' eyes went wide with panic as Rex loomed over him with a predatory smile.

"I-I…! Uh-well…" Jaden could tell Syrus was starting to _really_ panic as he stuttered to reply, completely pale.

"Come on, Syrus." Weevil leaned in as well, pinning the other bluenette between them. Weevil's words came out as a hissed whisper, setting Jaden's nerves on end.

"When are you going to accept our offer and join the Light? Chazz is getting impatient." Jaden looked back to Chazz, hoping for some kind of clue as to what was going on.

 _I almost feel like some sort of drug deal is about to go down._ Considering it was the middle of the day in a bright and crowded cafeteria and not a poorly lit back alley at dusk, Jaden didn't really put much stock into that theory.

On the other hand, Rex and Weevil were getting progressively intimidating and the look on Chazz's face had gone from 'angsty' to 'pissed off'. Even though he had yet to actually look at anyone.

"I-I don't think that—" Syrus tried.

"'Don't think' what? Don't think the Society can help you? Make you stronger? Get you all the cards you'll ever need?" Rex interrupted.

Weevil continued without missing a beat. "You know we've got connections. Chazz's older brothers are _very_ important members of the Society. There's _so_ much you could gain by just saying _yes._ " Syrus had started to shake.

 _I take it back. They're gangsters not drug lords. Although I'm not sure which is worse._

Jaden looked between the two 'gangsters' before turning to Chazz. He intended to confront him, to get Chazz to call off his flunkies or at least get an explanation when Jaden blinked…

Floating around Chazz's head were three small Duel Monster spirits. They weren't the completely formed spirits that would attack the city, nor were they the almost invisible spirit balls. These spirits were almost like ghosts. Jaden could perfectly see three humanoid duel spirits. A yellow, a green, and a black one, each sporting slightly disturbing speedos.

Jaden blinked again, but they were still there. Considering the attitude of the flunkies and the fact that Syrus had yet to mention anything, Jaden assumed he was the only one who could see them.

 _Or maybe…maybe Chazz can too. Maybe_ that's _why he's kept his eyes closed the entire time!_

"Wow! I didn't think someone like you would have such great connections like that, Chazz." The three boys on the opposite side of the table started. Obviously Rex and Weevil had forgotten about him, being too focused on Syrus. Chazz peeked an eye open to glare at the brunette.

"I mean, someone like you with _awesome_ duel energy and…those kinds of connections would be the best duelist ever. Right?" Jaden could feel the others staring. He tried not to let his confidence break, keeping his focus on Chazz.

"Hmph. That just goes without saying. I _am_ The Chazz, after all." Chazz smirked.

Jaden simply smiled. He shot a quick glance at the spirits still floating around Chazz. "I bet." If Chazz could see the spirits too, it meant that he had enough duel energy to be an incredibly powerful duelist.

It took next to no energy to see the duel spirit balls and the completely physical Duel Monsters had enough of their own energy to be seen by anyone. But to see duel spirits as _spirits_ required a person to have as much duel energy as the monsters themselves. It was incredibly rare for someone to have that much energy. Everyone that Jaden knew that could were all part of the Arcadia Department. Although he had heard rumors that some of the Pro Duelists could see them too.

Chazz frowned in confusion. He flicked his eyes from Jaden to the spirits. Chazz's glare was murderous.

"Rex!" Said flunky jumped, quickly retracting his arm from the still petrified Syrus.

"Yeah…?"

"Go get a different table. I can't stand the smell of losers any more. It makes me sick." Chazz glared at Jaden so hard the brunette's smile drooped. Rex scrambled to comply as if the glare were directed at him.

"Weevil! I'm hungry. Fix it." Weevil squeaked, suddenly much less intimidating.

Chazz stood, scoffed, and stalked after Rex.

 _Well that was…unexpected._ Jaden watched him disappear in the sea of lunch tables, wondering. _What's a strong guy like him doing with those duelist haters?_

"Alright kid, cough it up before I have to rough you up. You heard the man." Jaden turned just in time to see Syrus give what could only be his lunch money to the other bluenette.

"Sy! You don't have to—"

"It's okay, Jay!" Weevil pocketed the money and headed to the food lines. Syrus grabbed onto Jaden's jacket before he could follow. "This is way better than what usually happens. At least this way nothing will hurt in the morning besides my wallet." Syrus chuckled weakly.

Jaden sighed and sat back down. There really wasn't anything he could do. Short of going Hero and starting a fight, that is.

 _Preeeetty sure that wouldn't go over well with Divine…_

"He can't always have been like that." Jaden mused. There was just something not right about the whole thing. Rex and Weevil fit the high school bully M.O. the more he paid attention. Chazz, on the other hand, did not.

Chazz was confident. Or at least he had to be to sit out gym class the way he did. He had the kind of confidence that flared his coat when he strutted down hallways; the kind that didn't come from putting others down the way bullies did. The only question was whether that came from his own abilities or from the power that _supposedly_ came from the Society of Light.

"As far as I've known them. Although they only really started on the Society stuff in the past year or so." Syrus started pulling sandwiches and granola bars out of his backpack. Apparently the bluenette had been prepared for just such a lunch-less occasion. Jaden caught a bag of chips Sy tossed him without really noticing.

Jaden thought about the duel spirits that had clung to Chazz.

The Arcadia Department had done what research they could over the years. There was only so much that could be learned from rampaging monsters after all. As far as they could tell, the Level One light balls seemed to flicker in and out of existence at random. The Level Three monsters, the fully formed ones, were incredibly violent and only attacked humans and not other monsters. The Level Two spirits were much harder to study. So far all they had managed to learn was that they gravitated towards specific people. Considering the only people he knew that attracted them were _in_ said department, Jaden guessed it had something to do with being around the Level 3's all the time.

 _I wonder if the new guys will attract the spirits too._ Jaden blinked down at the now-empty bag of chips. _I guess I should actually show up to work soon. It_ has _been almost three days. Not that I've been getting any assignments lately..._

With Arcadia, Jaden had always been a figurehead as Flame Wingman: making guest appearances for grand openings, cooperating with Security on low level burglaries, flying around the city at low altitudes to provide a 'sense of security and safety' for the citizens... He had even saved a kitten from a tree once. He still had giant monster fights occasionally, but they just weren't like they used to be.

Jaden's mind then wandered to his 'strictly-off-the-record-it-totally-wasn't-me-what-are-you- talking-about' work. Going solo for once, without Divine or the others in his ear, was invigorating. Even if the people Jaden 'saved' weren't exactly grateful, he got the chance to practice with his other heroes. Jaden couldn't remember the last time he was able to actually get his hands dirty, to work up a sweat... or close to anyways.

It had made him feel alive in a way he hadn't in years.

Without looking, Jaden stole another chip bag from his friend who only put up a small defense. Syrus simply sighed, shaking his head, fondly exasperated. It hadn't really taken that much effort or time for Jaden to get Syrus to warm up to him, but he was already a pretty friendly guy to start with. So how much would it _really_ take to get the broody and closed-off Chazz to 'warm up'?

 _Maybe I could do something 'heroic'_ without _special powers._

Jaden always _did_ like a challenge.

* * *

"Keep your knees up ladies! I wanna see some effort out there! Come on, move!" Ms. Takeda shouted.

 _For such a small woman,_ man _has she got some lungs!_ Jaden puffed his way around the track yet again. Despite being in great shape to start with, he had never had to run this long before and Jaden was starting to feel the burn. Of course, there were _some_ students who weren't inclined to run themselves ragged. Even when being shouted at by an intimidating woman in a baseball cap. Chazz, Rex, and Weevil weren't even _fast_ walking around the track.

 _Well, I guess they're at least a little ruffled. Chazz is actually_ moving _for once._

After the whole lunch fiasco, Jaden had come up with a plan. Well, half a plan. Really, no plan. Chazz and the others had done a good job of ignoring Jaden without making it obvious to the rest of the school that they were doing so. It probably wouldn't be great for their street cred if people thought they were running away from the scrawny new kid. The only thing left for Jaden to actually do, short of joining their stupid cult, was the direct approach.

Jaden took a deep breath and sprinted to catch up to the group from his side of the track.

 _No worries, Jaden. Just remember, bullies are more scared of you than you are of them. Or is that spiders? So maybe that'll only work on Weevil…_

The group of boys were on the other side of the track, away from the screaming teacher and the bulk of the class who had already finished their laps for the day. Weevil and Rex were in front, laughing and pushing each other. Chazz lagged a few feet behind and out of the way, eyes closed yet again, hands in his pockets.

 _Just tap him on the shoulder. Nice and friendly-like. Easy. Just—_

At the last second, arm stretched out to tap Chazz as he had planned, Jaden tripped over his own feet.

" _Ack_!" Jaden tumbled, taking the dark haired teen with him. He had landed sprawled over Chazz, but had still somehow managed to scrape his elbows and chin on the asphalt.

"Watch where you're going, shrimp!" Before Jaden could shake the stars out of his eyes, Chazz shoved him off and stood.

"Oof." This time Jaden ended up on his back, staring up at three scowling faces.

 _Ugh. Gonna feel that in the morning. Come on Jay, keep it together._ Jaden stayed on the ground, trying to smile.

"Sorry guys. Guess I don't know my own, uh, speed." Chazz 'tch'ed.

"Just keep out of my way, loser." Jaden scrambled up when the trio started to move away.

"I-It's just that, um…" Jaden faltered. This was the problem with the direct approach. He had no idea what to do now. He had to find a way to connect with Chazz somehow. If he could do that, then he and Chazz would become friends, Jaden could convince him to quit the Society, and then Chazz and Sy could become friends and there would be one less bully in school. A win-win-win in Jaden's book.

 _Just gotta let him know I'm on his side. I bet if he knew more about Duel Monsters and how_ powerful _he really is, he wouldn't want to be part of the Society anyway._

"It's just that I was wondering how much you guys really knew about Duel Monsters. Y'know, after talking with you guys at lunch and all…" Jaden trailed off, not sure how to continue. Chazz's shoulders hunched up, stiff, as if expecting a blow.

"What's there to know? Those hulking snot-stains wreck the city practically every week. It's up to us to shove the freaks into cards where they belong." Rex snorted. Weevil snickered in agreement.

"Well, sure, I guess. But what about the Duel Spirits? I suppose you guys know all about them, too?"

"Those poof balls? Freakin' annoying is what they are. What use would they be anyways? Bet they have zero attack _and_ defense stats."

"You really don't know anything, do you, new kid?" Weevil said haughtily. "Duel Monsters? Spirits? The only thing you need to know is that they are inferior to humans. Even more so compared to the Society of Light." Weevil snickered again. Jaden was really learning to hate Weevil's snotty laughter.

Chazz's shoulders were still stiff, tensed up around his ears trying to block Jaden out. Yet he kept himself in check, his steps never faltering, trying to dissuade Jaden from pressing further. Jaden almost couldn't blame him. If that was the kind of thinking he was raised to believe-and how could he not, if he was hearing those things at home too-then Chazz had every reason to hide what he could see.

Jaden almost let it drop there. Who was he to think that Chazz _hadn't_ joined the Light on his own? Jaden didn't have spirits following him around, so how would he know what it was like? Maybe Chazz really had drunk the kool-aid.

No, he wasn't going to let it go. With clenched fists, Jaden tried one more time. "I mean those _other_ spirits. The ones that have shape and everything." Rex and Weevil looked back at Jaden for the first time since he had crashed into Chazz. There was a mix of disdain and condescension in their glares. They really had _no_ idea what Jaden was talking about, and thought he had surely lost his mind for thinking he knew something they didn't.

"What are you, some kind of freak?" Rex demanded.

"I bet he's one of those monster-loving groupies. What-can't get enough love at home, or something? Ever heard of getting a cat?" Weevil smirked again. Rex laughed at the 'highly original' quip.

Jaden looked to Chazz. He was shaking, almost ready to explode.

 _I can almost hear his teeth grinding from here._ While they had been talking, the group of boys were closing in on the bleachers. The rest of the class had already finished their laps and gone back inside to change, leaving an unimpressed gym teacher impatiently tapping her foot. _Alright, all or nothing._

"Chazz, you know what I'm talking about, don't you?" The question came out almost a plea. Jaden watched Chazz's back hopefully. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but a punch to the gut wasn't it. Jaden clutched his stomach, winded, and stumbled backwards.

"Oh yeah! Nice one, Chazz!" Rex pumped a fist in the air.

"You don't know anything about me, _freak_." Chazz growled. Jaden gasped, more stunned than anything. "Know your place, slacker. If you knew what was good for you, you'd stay out of my way." Chazz stalked away, completely ignoring the two flunkies high-fiving each other as they hurried after him.

Jaden watched them leave, disappointed in himself and in Chazz. He had at least hoped that Chazz would _try_ to learn more about the spirits he could see. If anything, Jaden had only learned how far Chazz had buried his head in the sand.

 _I suppose I'll just have to try harder next time._

* * *

As soon as school let out Jaden could tell something was wrong.

Not like, 'there's a disturbance in the force' kind of wrong. Of the many powers Jaden had, a 'spidey-sense' was not one of them. _Although that would be freakin' sweet if I did._

Just, something was off that was different than normal; something subtly different that made the atmosphere in front of the school _wrong._ No one was running to get free of school grounds as fast as possible. No one was shouting to their friends; no laughter. Everyone seemed to be trying to keep their heads down.

"Get your hands off my sister!"

"Relax kid, she'll be fine. We're just trying to help her." That was Weevil's voice. Jaden couldn't really hear everything going on, but the closer he got to the street, the thinner the crowd became.

"She said she doesn't want to go with you! Just let her go!"

This time it was a different voice. Young, but not as young as the first. So far still younger than the three teens obviously involved, but not quite as childlike as the...victim? Jaden really needed to get close enough to see them if he was gonna start guessing the ages of these voices...

"Would you just shut up already!?" That was Rex.

" _Ugh!_ " "Rally!"

And that was the sound of flesh hitting flesh.

Jaden shoved his way to the front of the crowd. Despite the subdued nature of the bystanders, there was still a small, compact circle forming around the drama. Rex was standing over a kid, probably only ten? years old, wearing a beanie that barely held his red hair in check. Weevil, meanwhile, was struggling to hold a shorter bluenette who was fighting to get to _another_ bluenette that could only be his sister. Said sister was being held by Chazz by the collar of her jacket.

 _Man, I have_ got _to start keeping track of all the people with blue hair. I could swear there weren't this many before coming to this school._

Before Jaden could do anything to intervene, Rex reached over and grabbed the brother from his struggling with Weevil, flinging him to the ground on top of the red head. Weevil simply brushed the wrinkles out of his jacket. Neither teen acted like this was anything but normal. Chazz didn't even notice.

"Stop wasting my time, shrimp. We've got places to be."

"B-but-! I don't…I don't want to go anywhere w-with you." The girl's voice coming out on a whimper.

"I've already told you! The Society has better facilities, better doctors. We could make you better in no time." Chazz tried to steer the girl out of the circle. "If your brother really wanted you to get better he should have brought you to the Light." When the steering via collar didn't work, Chazz grabbed the girl by the arm and started dragging her along. If it weren't for the two lackies, Jaden was sure the other children would have already rushed to her rescue.

Jaden frowned to himself. In these later days of heroing, he'd stopped a lot of muggings and near-kidnappings. Chazz and the others may have been schoolyard bullies, but they were also S.o.L. fanatics. They were no different than the other thugs that wandered the streets. Jaden clenched his hands to keep from reaching for his deck.

 _Even if I can't transform, I can still do something as a regular person._

"Hey guys, come on. Can't we all just get along?" Jaden drew their attention, making himself a distraction, as well as a target. Everyone inside the circle startled at the interruption. But when they saw it was only Jaden who had spoken, their cockiness returned full blast.

 _So, ready to flee at the first sign of trouble, eh? If only I were more intimidating…_ Again, Jaden had to restrain himself from reaching for his deck. _Since when did I need help kicking butt anyways?_

A little bit of the tension returned at the sight of the smirk on Jaden's face. Chazz, on the other hand, looked as if a stray dog had come along and pissed on his shoes. The kids shared looks of unease amongst themselves, though suddenly no longer the center of attention.

"Well look what the loser-cat dragged in…a Loser!" Rex swaggered over to Jaden, his own malicious smirk in place.

An unholy urge to punch Rex outright, then and there, surged through Jaden.

 _Easy, easy. Remember your cover. Horrible comebacks are not a good reason to expose your secret._ Rex puffed up at the nervous laughter from the crowd. Weevil gave another of his nasally snickers. _Expulsion maybe…_

Jaden sighed. Even if he thought they deserved it, there was no way Divine would think so. _Besides, that's just not the way heroes do things._ Jaden forced a smile, resigned to being a pacifist this round.

"…good one Rex. Now, why don't we just…leave the nice kids alone and go our separate ways. While you're still on top…" The obvious 'or else' was left hanging in the air.

Any hint of good humor was wiped from Raptor's face.

"What're you gonna do about it, freak?" Rex shoved Jaden _hard_ in the chest, causing him to stumble back.

"Good-for-nothing piece of shit!" Another shove had Jaden landing hard on his back, the wind knocked out of him for the second time that day. "Nobody here needs your help, so why don't you get lost before we _really_ get pissed off?"

Rex and Weevil loomed over the would-be hero. Rex looked ready to inflict yet more pain but held himself back. Weevil tried to hold himself taller, his whole posture screaming superiority at having someone 'cowering' at his feet.

 _Dammit! If I had just hit them back sooner I wouldn't have to pretend to be so…so_ weak _!_ _Just_ one _little shove...damn you pacifism!_ Jaden stayed on the ground, glaring right back at them. He couldn't fight back the way he wanted, couldn't fight back at all really, if he wanted to keep his cover. But Jaden refused to let them think they had the better of him.

"Do what you want to me, just leave those kids out of it! They didn't do anything to you!"

Weevil's smirk was more insidious than ever.

"You'd like that wouldn't you? I bet you don't get enough attention at home. I'm gonna guess the reason you're suddenly not being homeschooled is because _daddy_ just doesn't have the time for you anymore." Jaden flinched back in shock.

"That's why you've got such a soft spot for those filthy monsters. Daddy doesn't love you anymore, so you have to find it somewhere else." Weevil's smirk grew wider, his confidence growing with Jaden's silence.

"Well, I got news for you, kid. Those _things_ don't feel anything. They're probably _worse_ than your pops." Rex picked up on the insults. Their laughter was a roaring in Jaden's ears. The urge to transform and show these punks what he could _really_ do to them was unbearable. They just kept laughing, completely unaware of the danger growing in front of them.

One minute Jaden was seething on the ground, the next he had pulled Weevil up on his toes practically growling in the other boy's face.

"Don't you _dare_ talk about my dad like that." There was a small flicker of fear in Weevil's eyes. Jaden only had a short second to enjoy it before he was thrown back to the ground. A swift kick to the stomach had him gasping in pain. There was a flurry of movement out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't have a chance to look before Raptor kicked him again. Jaden curled up to protect himself as much as possible.

Raptor growled out something like "Forget him!" and the beating doubled as Underwood joined in. His strikes weren't as powerful as Raptor's, but they did manage to land on the unprotected soft parts of Jaden's body, no matter how hard he tried to cover them.

Jaden could just make out Chazz's voice over his own pained grunts. "I thought I told you to stay out of my way. Guess you'll need some extra help to catch up with the rest of the class, slacker."

 _Damnit!_ Jaden tried to wiggle his hand down to his belt. If only he could reach his deck…just a _little_ bit of Duel Energy and maybe… Jaden's fingers just barely brushed his belt...

The sound of an engine revving scattered the still-lingering crowd, as well as disrupted the attack.

Jaden could swear he heard his attackers 'eep!' but was too busy catching his breath to care. Slowly uncurling from his semi-protective ball, Jaden looked around for the cause of the sudden respite.

 _And here I thought they weren't going to stop until my 'insides' were 'outsides'._

"What the fuck, Chazz?! How many times do I gotta tell you? Satellite kids are Off. Limits." The voice would have been loud under normal circumstances. In the current silence, however, it was booming.

It was commanding.

It was pissed off.

"Crow!" The bluenette siblings rushed the still-helmeted biker. Jaden let out a sigh of relief even as he eyed the mysterious crow.

 _What is with all the motorcycles?! That's it, after today, I'm dying my hair blue and joining a biker gang._

Crow pulled off his helmet to reveal the most gravity defying, bright orange hair Jaden had ever seen. He eyed Jaden's still-prone form with concern.

"You and what army, bird-brain?!" Weevil shouted from his spot behind both Chazz and Rex.

"You know exactly which one, bug-breath!" Weevil flinched back in his hiding spot. To Jaden's surprise, both Crow and Chazz simply huffed and rolled their eyes.

"Chazz! You wanna explain..?" Crow was no longer hurling shouted insults, but his shoulders were tense and his eyes fixed on the 'ringleader'. There was an undercurrent of respect-a certain wariness-in his voice.

"What's there to explain?" Chazz's response was nothing if not haughty and superior. As if he hadn't just been manhandling a little kid while watching his lackies beating up another kid not two feet in front of him. Despite the obvious tone of dismissal for the situation, Crow merely frowned in response.

No one said a word.

 _I guess this would be the part where the rival cowboys face off to the death. If_ only _I had a tumbleweed…_ Jaden reclined comfortably in his spot on the ground. Caught between the two opposing desperados, yet completely ignored.

Just as Jaden was contemplating shouting 'High Noon!' to break the tension, Chazz scoffed.

"Probably wasting my time anyways." With that, Chazz turned and left, Weevil and Rex trailing after him. He almost made it seem as if it were his idea to leave in the first place.

"Nice talking with ya, Chazz!" Jaden couldn't resist one last parting shot. Chazz's shoulders tensed, ruining the illusion of confident indifference. He didn't stop walking, however. Crow waited until the group had turned a corner before letting out a long breath, and turned to Jaden.

"You okay, kid?" Jaden chuckled. From commanding shouts to worried concern in 3 seconds, flat. No wonder the kids had flocked over to him as soon as they could. Crow fit the Big Brother trope to a 'T'. Jaden stood and made his way over to the new 'crazy dude on a motorbike'.

"Me? Ya, I'm fine." Jaden dusted off his jacket and puffed out his chest. "It's gonna take more than that to keep me down!" Crow looked him up and down skeptically. Jaden tried not to squirm. If he hadn't been able to reach his deck at that last minute, even having just brushed it, Jaden was sure he'd be limping home with bruised ribs.

 _Thanks Clayman. I owe you one._ Jaden felt a rush of warmth surge through him. As much as Jaden was grateful for his deck, the duel spirits inside were doubly pleased that Jaden was unharmed.

"…if you say so, kid." Jaden huffed, just a little put out. _Kid?! We're practically the same age!...I think…how old do you have to be to own a motorcycle?_

"The name's Jaden, not 'kid'." Crow just smirked at the totally-not-a-pout frown from Jaden.

There was a tug on Jaden's jacket.

"Umm…t-thank you. For…for trying to stop them…" The little girl blushed. Jaden smiled softly at her. He ruffled her hair a bit, causing her to blush more.

"No problem. What was up with them anyways? Sounds like this isn't the first time they've tried something like this."

The two boys shuffled a little so they stood protectively around the girl, glaring around anxiously as if she were going to suddenly disappear. It was actually kinda cute. Crow sighed.

His glare _wasn't_ cute.

"It's not just those guys. It's all of those dam—I mean! _Darn_ Society people." Rally, the kid with the beanie who, if Jaden remembered right, took the first punch, snickered at the older boy's slip. Crow shot him a glare, but couldn't stop a small smile from breaking out anyway.

"Anyways. Somehow that lot got it into their heads that the DE clinics aren't good enough anymore. You've heard of their new Light Clinics?" Jaden nodded. He'd seen them popping up all over the city lately, with the other Duel Energy Clinics slowly being pushed to the outskirts.

"Well, Ruka is a…special case." Now that he was up close, Jaden could see that the girl didn't look so well. She looked like a stiff wind would blow her away. Even her hair was limp, as if whatever energy she had was spent keeping her standing. That said, as they'd been standing there, small coughs had occasionally wracked her small frame.

"She can't go to those Light Clinics. Even _if_ we could afford it…"

"Not that we'd go anyways! Those guys are creeps!" Crow placed a comforting hand on the bluenette boy's shoulder, trying to calm him down.

 _Although I don't think it's working…that kid looks like he wants to go start his_ own _fight…_

"So this happens all the time? And I thought _I_ had it bad. It's only been a week and I'm already on their shi—uh poop list?" Jaden cringed under the Big Brother look, the younger kids snickering at him. Jaden winked at them when Crow glanced away, which sent them giggling again.

"Well today sure isn't going to help."

"No worries. I can handle myself." Jaden puffed out his chest again. More giggling. Crow wasn't convinced.

"Hey, I get it. Big Bro Crow can't be around all the time. Gotta go to work and earn some dough so everyone can eat the bacon, right?" Jaden gestured at the clunky looking motorcycle. He'd noticed it had some sort of crate looking contraption on it.

 _Must make deliveries or something. I wonder how many pizzas can fit in there…_

"…uuh..sure. Something like that." Crow shuffled a bit, not meeting Jaden's eyes. The kids seemed not to notice, except for Rally, who suddenly looked very serious.

"Aaanywaaays, if you guys ever need any help, I'll be sure to keep an eye out. Okay?" Jaden could almost feel the awkward growing in the air. He wasn't sure what was really going on, or if there even _was_ a 'something really going on' to _be_ going on, but Jaden still wanted to help if he could.

Crow blinked in confusion before smirking.

"I don't know…not sure you could handle looking after yourself, let alone a bunch of kids after that little display…" Jaden barely knew this carrot-topped-tattooed-babysitter, but he could already read his smirk for the challenge that it was.

Jaden couldn't keep the answering challenge from his own smirk.

"That was nothin'. I bet I could take you."

Crow's smirk grew from 'only slightly off-putting' to 'downright creepy'.

"I'll take that bet." A thrill of adrenaline shot through Jaden's spine. It had been too long since he'd had a chance to spar with any of the other heroes. And it wasn't like his last attempt at solo Hero-ing on the streets had been very challenging.

 _It'd be extra challenging not to use any super powers with this guy._ Crow seemed like the type who wouldn't pull his punches even in a friendly fight, and unlike with standing up to the punks in front of most of the student body, Jaden wouldn't feel the need to hold back either. Almost too tempting a thought, considering his 'full strength' would be cheating.

Jaden felt his excitement rise at the prospect of a fair fight with the biker. While the two boys had their epic stare down, the kids had piled onto the back of Crow's bike, helmets on and ready to go.

Crow replaced his own helmet and revved the engine. Jaden tried not to be _too_ jealous.

 _I have_ got _to get me one of those._

"If you ever wanna put your money where your mouth is, you're welcome in Satellite anytime." With that, Crow and the kids were off.

"You're on!" Jaden shouted after them. It took him a few seconds for the whole conversation, the whole _day_ really, to sink in. Out of all the things he had learned, only one stood out to him.

"…I didn't know anyone lived in Satellite…"

* * *

"Wow! Today was awesome! Don't you think so, boss?"

"Yeah! The boss was so great back there! Did you see the look on their faces?!"

"Yeah! Yeah! Especially that one kid! No one is stronger than our boss!"

"…But that kid…you think he saw us? …I think he totally did…"

"Ain't no way! Only the boss is strong enough to see _us_."

"But what if he is? Do you think he's stronger than the boss?"

"Uwaa~! What're we gonna do, boss?!"

Chazz took advantage of the empty elevator to hunch his shoulders and attempt to drown out the voices surrounding him. Even though they were the most annoying voices he'd ever had the misfortune to hear, they always seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. Well, almost exactly…

"That's 'the Chazz' to you cretins." This, of course, had no effect on the small duel spirits.

"We're sorry, boss!"

"We'll do better! We promise, boss!"

"Boss!"

 _Dammit._

"Of course! Our boss is the greatest!"

"He's the _boss_."

Chazz cursed to himself, somehow managing to both growl and sigh in frustration. At the rate things were going it looked like Chazz would never be rid of the speedo wearing freaks. The three 'ochjamas' as they preferred to be called, were still wailing over the 'awesomeness' of their boss by the time the elevator stopped.

Chazz suppressed a shiver.

Every Light building was the same. Blinding white walls and freezing cold temperatures. Yet Chazz would swear that the Princeton offices were the worst. With every step he took the cold seeped through Chazz's clothes until everything about him felt like ice.

At least this way he could face his brothers and not worry about his expression slipping.

The office doors slid open on their own and Chazz went to stand in front of the large desk, the only piece of dark furniture in the room. Chazz stood frozen. Waiting.

"It seems we might have a problem on our hands. So tell us, Chazz, when exactly did the girl have her miraculous recovery?"

There was a beat of utter silence before Chazz answered.

"She has not recovered."

"Hmmm, our mistake. Perhaps the other brats have managed to convince the PSB to shadow them wherever they go?"

Another beat.

"They have not." Chazz felt his palms begin to sweat. He had yet to look away from the spot on the wall directly behind his eldest brother's head, but he knew the other was slowly stalking the room behind him.

Chazz refused to turn to track his movement.

"Then maybe you've forgotten…What is your name?" The faux playful tone had vanished from his brother's voice. It was as cold as the room itself. Maybe even colder.

"…Chazz Princeton…" Footsteps told him that his second brother had moved to stand directly behind him. Even with the warning Chazz only barely managed to not flinch at the voice in his ear.

"What was that?"

"Chazz Princeton." He could feel sweat start to trickle down his back. If he had dared to look, Chazz would have seen that his brothers shared identical looks of malice.

"That's right. You are a Princeton. Although, with your recent performance, we're not so sure anymore." Chazz trembled at the implications of that.

"How long is it going to take for you to finish this simple assignment?"

Chazz remained silent.

"You know we only want the best for you…"

"And the Princeton name…"

"And our reputation. _Your_ reputation." Chazz clenched his eyes shut, as if to shut out the accusation in their voices. But then opened them again lest they consider it another sign of weakness and another mark against him.

"The sooner you take care of these brats, the sooner the Light can trust you with bigger responsibilities." His brother moved to stand in front of him now. His hand was a searing weight on Chazz's shoulder.

"Do not let us down again." With a stiff nod, Chazz turned to leave the room. He stopped dead in the doorway at his brother's voice.

"Don't worry Chazz, you're almost there." Another jerky nod and Chazz was out the door. By the time he was in the elevator once again he could no longer ignore the duel spirits.

"Man, those guys are scary! Ain't they?"

"Sure wouldn't wanna meet them in a dark alley!"

"What'er you guys sayin'! Don't worry, we've got the boss on our side! He'll protect us!"

"Yeah! No one can beat the boss!"

"Yeah! We love you, boss! Please save me first!"

Chazz felt the anger, frustration, and helplessness that had been bubbling inside him threaten to boil over. He looked at himself, seemingly alone, in the reflection of the elevator doors.

He let out a slow breath and felt himself calming down once again.

 _Almost there…_

* * *

"You can't keep doing this, you know."

There was no response. The dark figure stared out at the city. Even after dark the city continued to glow; as if something as simple as night could slow the people of Neo Domino down. Despite this, the figure remained in shadow. The light and sounds from the city life below powerless before his dark mood.

Yugi felt a shudder run down his spine. This wasn't the first time he had tried to talk sense into his unwanted house guest; and it wouldn't be the last. Not that it ever did any good. No matter what Yugi said, he knew nothing would change.

"They're going to catch you eventually." He knew the other man was listening despite the lack of response. He wasn't sure how, but Yugi could feel that he had all of his attention.

"Why don't you just ask them for help? That other hero seemed—"

The figure didn't move. Nothing in the room seemed to change, yet the tension in the room was suffocating.

"It doesn't matter." His voice was quiet, hardly even there, but held such power and force that it made the argument impossible to continue. Even worn and tired as he was, there was no mistaking the command he controlled simply by existing. Normally, Yugi was in awe of his control; the strength it took to continue, where he would have given in long ago.

But sometimes it was better to ask for help than to struggle on your own. He wouldn't admit it, but Yugi knew his friend was starting to get overwhelmed.

"But Ya-!" Yugi bit his lip, cutting himself off. He wasn't sure when Yami had turned but the killing intent glowing from behind those crimson eyes almost had the smaller boy running from the room.

It was never hard to remember all of the things Yami had done. In the time they had known each other, as well as the things Yugi had managed to learn about his past. But now, in the dead of the night, no one to see or hear them, no obstacles to prevent Yami from enacting every bloody promise he'd made, Yugi was truly afraid.

He knew he was shaking. That all the blood had fled from his face, sweat dripping from his forehead and palms. Yugi knew he was a weak, pale, trembling worm.

 _Pathetic._

He wondered if this would be the day Yami finally snapped.

When Yugi felt as if the anticipation alone would end him, something in Yami's eyes shifted.

Yami closed his eyes, head bowed, and turned back to the window. With his eyes no longer piercing through him, Yugi managed to gasp a breath.

And another.

His heart was still rabbit-fast in his chest, and it refused to calm down. It was useless to apologize. Yugi wouldn't even know what he would be apologizing _for_. Yami wouldn't accept it anyway.

Yugi slipped from the room as quietly as possible. At a glance, the room was as peaceful seeming as it had been before. Everything still and quiet, the shadows at the window only giving the faint suggestion of a man. Yet now, the promise of violence poisoned the air.

Once back in his room, the adrenaline finally started to leave Yugi's system. But the feeling of helplessness remained. Things were getting worse. Yami still refused to listen. But Yugi refused to give up.

Yugi brushed his teeth, changed his clothes, and turned out the lights. He slid into bed and prepared to do it all again tomorrow.

* * *

 **Sooooo, yeah. Sorry not sorry for incredibly late chapter? Not like I really have an update schedule, but I still feel bad for taking so long. Gonna blame that on moving to a different continent.**

 **Was guilt tripped into working on this by fav. story alerts. Would have been faster if they were reviews. I reread those constantly. :P Hope somebody is at least still enjoying this. Let me know!** **ch4 is being written as we speak.**


	4. Chapter 4

DUEL Heroes

"Come on, Carly! We're gonna be late!"

A crash came from the back room, followed by a harried-looking reporter. Her glasses were askew, clothes and hair in disarray. Carly scrambled her way to the front of the small apartment, grabbing various notepads and pens as she went.

Mokuba stood in the only clear space: directly in front of the door. He didn't know why he bothered trying to hurry her. It wasn't like they ever got good spots even when they _were_ on time.

"Sorry! Sorry! It's just—I don't know where…? My badge, have you seen…?" Carly patted her pockets, frantically turning every which way as if it would magically appear if she just turned fast enough.

Mokuba stood and waited for Carly to notice the news pass he had been fiddling with the entire time.

"Oh! You found it! You're a lifesaver, Mokuba! Thank you!" Carly snatched the badge from his hands and quickly shoved it over her head. Mokuba didn't even blink, simply bending down to retrieve the pile of junk Carly had dropped in her haste.

"Omigosh! Sorry, Mokuba!" Mokuba slapped her hands away before she could make the mess worse. He stacked everything neatly and dropped the pile into the open canvas bag hanging off the girl's shoulder.

"Don't even start! If you start apologizing we'll never get there." Mokuba scolded not unkindly.

Carly flushed. "R-right!" She adjusted her glasses, visibly pulling herself together. "I'm ready!"

Mokuba smiled to himself. Carly was usually so scatterbrained he sometimes forgot she could be determined and focused as well. With her clumsy and shy personality, it was easy to underestimate her when in fact, Carly was one of the most successful investigative reporters in the Hub. Although the incredibly thick glasses kinda detracted from the image.

His hands clenched into fists thinking about it. About how Carly had to scrape together whatever she could just to keep up with the big networks and stay afloat. They had been lucky lately, finding a couple stories here and there before the big networks could get a hold of them, but it wasn't enough.

 _We'll show them! We'll show them all that we are twice as good as any of them!_

A gentle hand on his shoulder drew the young boy from his thoughts.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Carly asked gently. Mokuba couldn't see her eyes behind the giant glasses, but he knew what he would find there if he could.

"Don't worry, Carly, I'll be fine." Mokuba patted the hand still on his shoulder, voice just as quiet. They stood there, enjoying the silence before Mokuba clapped abruptly, making Carly jump.

"Alright! That's enough of that! We've got a story to find! Now let's go before that rainy lady gets all the good interviews again!"

Carly recovered again, and cheering with enthusiasm, the pair left for the Arena.

"O-okay. _Okay_. I can do this. He's just a normal guy like everyone else. An ordinary guy with a normal, ordinary, average job. J-just an average job that just so _happens_ to be driving high-powered vehicles at breakneck speeds for a living. Ordinary helmet. Ordinary shoes. Ordinary clothes…leather clothes…" Carly's thoughts trailed off.

 _Ordinary leather clothes that clings to ordinary legs…a nice chest…strong arms…_ Carly shook her head and went back to pacing nervously.

It was only the beginning of the racing season, but the competition was already heating up. Fans had already started a new round of Racing Rally fundraisers for their favorite racers. Bets were being placed for the final seeds that wouldn't even be determined for another three months. Not to mention Moto-Madness had already started. Getting an exclusive with _any_ of the racers would skyrocket a reporter's career.

Although, there was only one racer Carly _really_ wanted to interview. The swarm of reporters were already circling the doors to the locker rooms, clogging the hallways. Carly and Mokuba had staked out a spot at the front, but had been pushed back as more and more network crews showed up. Now they were hanging towards the back with the tabloid crazies and sweaty fanboys.

Mokuba watched Carly pace from one side of the hallway to the other. "Relax, already. You've done this before, haven't you? You weren't this…twitchy at the Arcadia press conference."

"Well…yeah. Yes! Of course I have! It—it's just that…it's not the _same_." Shouting and camera flashes had Carly almost giving herself whiplash. All the air in the room was suddenly too thick to breath. Her heart was trying to lodge itself in her throat making breathing that much harder.

"Jeeze, Carly. Calm down, would you?" Carly 'meeped', quickly turning away from the doors and attempting to appear as uninterested in the commotion as possible. Considering she was fidgeting even more now, it wasn't exactly effective.

"I-I _am_ calm!" She huffed. Carly glared down at the young boy, her cheeks only slightly pink. When she looked back towards the still flashing swarm, it was with a look of calculated determination. Mokuba noticed and readied his camera, awaiting orders.

"The race ended twenty-three minutes ago. All the managers will still be schmoozing in the private boxes. Any crew members will be in the pit looking over the motorcycles." Carly stared off into the distance, fingers twitching in the air as she thought. "Anyone who didn't place in the top three will try to leave as soon as possible to avoid the circus."

Mokuba looked over at the mob as a racer he didn't recognize was escorted out the back with minimal interference. He snapped a quick pic, just in case.

"Atticus and J— _The King_ will come out last. Atticus will most likely draw as much attention as he can, so we'll need to stay on the sidelines if we want a chance to get around the rush his scene will definitely cause." Even with her mind focused elsewhere, Carly managed to steer Mokuba to the stairs. Hands on his shoulders, she position her cameraman _just so_.

Mokuba trusted his partner to give him the signal and allowed his mind to wander back to the race. Or the V.I.P. boxes to be completely accurate. Sure, he had taken as many pictures of the race as possible, but the _real_ stories always happened behind the scenes. So while Carly took notes on the race (re: drooled over 'The King'), Mokuba had spied on the presidential box.

There were the usual bribes and blackmails happening between racing managers, so nothing new there. But there had been a few faces that didn't quite add up. The Director of the Hero Department was rubbing elbows with Jack Atlas' manager which wouldn't have been strange if Divine hadn't come alone. Unusual by itself considering Divine had been known to dislike motoracing in general. What possible reason could there be for those two to be talking with each other?

Then there was Yugi Mutou. The undefeated King of Games, who usually only made appearances for tournaments had been sitting front and center in the presidential box. There had been rumors going around that the young duelist was ill and had retreated from society. That Mutou had only recently become a weird dueling recluse was strange enough, but then there was the huge, golden bling he had been sporting. Mokuba made sure to get close-ups.

Last, but certainly never least, was the large group of Kaiba Corp. Executives. They had taken up most of the seating in the private box, doing most of the wheeling and dealing. Mokuba knew they were also the source of many under-the-table deals. Kaiba Corp. was the largest privately owned technological company, but they made sure to keep their fingers in as many pies as they could. So it was expected that there would be any number of Kaiba Executives at any large-scale event.

What made it out of the ordinary was that the man himself—

"Step aside. You're blocking the stairs."

Was right behind him.

Seto Kaiba swept down the stairs, long white coat billowing in the nonexistent wind. His pack of executives scuttled after him, trying to appear superior and as pompous as possible without drawing the ire of their temperamental employer. Seto Kaiba was already a tall figure, but as he swept through the crowded hallway he was practically regal.

Carly and Mokuba were on his tail the moment he stepped off the stairs. Mokuba snapped photos as fast has he could while angling himself so that other reporters couldn't get close.

 _I may be small, but I sure as hell ain't weak._

Mokuba smirked triumphantly at the pissy look on the Channel 7 reporter's face. Angela Raines may be the lead reporter for the top news channel in the city, always on top and always looking good doing it, but she had _the best_ bitch face. One of Mokuba's life long goals was to get the blonde reporter to make a bitch face on live television.

A few more strides and Kaiba was standing directly behind the mob of reporters, arms crossed and completely relaxed. He seemed to be waiting for something, but Mokuba wasn't sure for what. His brother didn't care for anything other than his company and Duel Monsters, so there was absolutely no reason for him to be at the Arena today. A couple of reporters attempted to get a statement from the CEO, but only got dismissive glares for their efforts. Soon there was a ring of no-man's land around the tall man.

Carly and Mokuba were the only ones to be just an _inch_ closer to the intimidating figure. When the doors to the locker rooms opened once again, the mob's attention shifted, almost reluctantly, to the new arrival. Atticus Rhodes emerged with a flourish, and as predicted, the majority of the reporters were drawn in by his exuberant energy and then immediately surrounded by the swarm of screaming fangirls.

"Hmph. Pathetic." Seto watched the proceeding circus aloof and disgusted by all he saw. He hardly spared a glance at the obnoxious brunette and his groupies, even less for the reporters trying to get exclusives from the second place winner. Carly slowly took out her recorder and stepped quietly up to the CEO, Mokuba reluctantly following after.

Kaiba side-eyed the duo cautiously approaching his personal bubble. "You're the reporter that is always the first responder to Hero sightings? I read your article on Flame Wingman's latest escapades. Excellent work."

Carly stuttered out a thank you, her recorder shaking violently in her outstretched hand. Mokuba was worried she was going to drop the thing, but stayed silent behind his camera. He knew Seto was aware of _everything_ that happened around him, so Mokuba _knew_ his brother knew he was there and was deciding not to say anything.

 _If that's how he wants to play it, then fine by me. I'll just take my pictures and wait. He can't keep this up forever._

Kaiba appraised the shaking reporter. "I guess you'll do." He seemed resigned as he said it; Mokuba wasn't sure if being 'approved' was a good or bad thing in this case. "Your blog is small but popular. Whatever I tell you will be reported accurately and quickly, becoming viral within the hour?" It wasn't a question, and Kaiba wasn't asking if Carly would do it. He was _telling_ her what was going to happen, whether Carly agreed or not.

"Y-yes, sir!" Carly managed to squeak out, blushing slightly. Kaiba looked over the girl again, as if making sure his orders were understood before 'hmph'ing his approval.

"Very well. Listen closely. I don't enjoy having to repeat myself."

Before Kaiba could say anything else a particularly brave reporter stepped in, shoving his microphone into Kaiba's face.

"Mr. Kaiba! Do you have anything to say to the recent allegations that your company supports the Society of Light?! Can we assume that your wardrobe today shows your support for the Society?!"

Mokuba was sure that the idiot reporter's microphone was picking up the pissed off growl coming from the tall brunette. For some reason, the idiot couldn't hear it though, and refused to move until he got an answer. Kaiba growled down at the man, drawing himself even taller to tower over the idiot.

"I did not come here to discuss my fashion choices. Anything I do or don't decide to wear is no one's business but my own. Now. Back. _Off._ " The idiot finally got with the program and scurried to safety outside of Kaiba's No-man's Land as if the CEO were about to bite his hand off.

"Yeah, _Mr. Kaiba_." Yet again, the reporter duo was denied their exclusive, although this time Mokuba didn't think Carly would mind. "Everyone knows the Society only wears _white_. What's your excuse?" Jack Atlas had finally appeared during all the ruckus. And now the two reporters were standing awkwardly between the two weirdly tall celebrities, although Carly was turning a bright pink and Mokuba was just glad _they_ weren't the center of the attention.

Kaiba glanced down at Jack's _completely white_ racing uniform. He looked back up at Jack, one eyebrow raised in question. There was a wealth of meaning in that one expression, mostly mockery and contempt, but Kaiba didn't have to say a word to have Jack sputtering in anger.

"This isn't white! It's eggshell cream! I've been wearing this _way_ before the Society even existed!" Jack's face was starting to turn red, and he stepped closer to get in Kaiba's face.

Kaiba didn't move, and his expression didn't change, but his "I'm sure," sent Jack into hysterics.

"What the hell is a prissy boy like you doing here anyways?! I'm never going to be on your stupid racing team! No matter what Jaeger promised you!" Jack jabbed a finger in Kaiba's face to emphasize his point. He crowded into the brunette's space, trying to use his height to his advantage. Unfortunately, the two were exactly the same height, which just seemed to make the blonde that much angrier.

Kaiba held his ground, staring down the furious blonde with his own ice cold gaze. Jack was spitting fire in his rage, but Kaiba was as solid and immovable as an iceberg. His lack of reaction threw Jack off; he backed up a few inches, giving Kaiba room while Jack collected his thoughts.

"Two weeks from today. Noon. The Hubcap. Bring your deck." Kaiba glanced sharply at the dark-haired reporters before turning and heading back the way he came. His posse of executives followed hurriedly after him. Carly fumbled her recorder, trying to make sure she had caught everything.

"What? What the hell does that have to do with anything?!" Jack yelled after him, his voice carrying over the crowd without even trying.

Kaiba stopped, halfway up the stairs. He looked back over his shoulder, smirking down at the enraged blonde. "Not everything is all about you, _Mr. Atlas._ " A sweep of his long white coat and Kaiba disappeared once again into the crowd.

Jack yelled in frustration. He probably would have thrown something if there was actually anything to throw. Instead he crossed his arms and fumed, still standing in the middle of the hallway.

Mokuba rolled his eyes behind his camera lens. _What drama queens…_

Carly shakily extended her recorder to the motoracer. Mokuba applauded her courage to keep trying, even as he knew it was no use. Jack's temper was even more legendary than Seto's. There was no way anyone was going to get anything but grunts and angry noises out of the guy.

"U-um. Mr. At—Mr. T-The King, sir? W-would y-you mind…gi-giving us a-a a statement?"

Jack was still glaring at the stairs, clenching his fists as if to keep himself from punching something. Mokuba waited a full thirty seconds before attempting to draw Carly away. He wasn't sure how long it would take for the man to cool down, but the boy was sure it was longer than it would take for the blonde to snap. He had gotten his partner to at least lower the recorder when Jack spoke.

"Not today, squirt." Jack muttered. He spun on his heel and stomped back towards the locker room, shoving any reporter not fast, or smart, enough to get out of his way.

"Come on, Carly. Ignore him. We—"

"He said 'not today'! That means next time he'll let me interview him!" Carly clutched her tape recorder to her chest. Mokuba wondered if there were stars or hearts in her eyes.

"Uh-huh. Sure, Carls. Whatever you say. Now let's get out of here before _we_ get swarmed." Mokuba could already feel the hungry gazes of reporters ready to jump them for information. The dark-haired boy dragged his partner up the stairs, through more hallways, and out of the Arena.

Mokuba dragged Carly all the way back to their apartment. Carly was going to listen to her recording for at least the next five hours and he wanted to make sure she at least did it where no one else could hear. Including himself.

"At least it was a productive morning…"

Every superhero has a weakness. Jaden could probably name every Hero in the Department's weakness in under a minute. Not to mention listing every 'kryptonite' of the heroes in his comic books. Compared to being allergic to the color yellow or something, being highly distractible by motorcycles wasn't that bad.

… _or it's the most pathetic thing in existence and probably the worst possible weakness in a city that seems to have these things around every corner!_

Jaden had been wandering the city in search of possible targets for likely bad-guy attacks. He never did manage to find the Main Water Supply Plant, the number one target for any would be villain, although he did manage to find the Industrial District. (Or the 'Abandoned Warehouse District and Bad Guy Hideout Central' as Jaden was calling it.) He had been distracted by the most beautiful, bad-ass pieces of two-wheeled transportation Jaden had ever seen in his life.

If it weren't for the light of the setting sun bouncing off the polished chrome, Jaden would have never noticed them. Down a short alley were two gleaming motorcycles in an otherwise closed-off courtyard. Jaden was practically drooling on them by the time he noticed he'd veered off his original path. A quick glance around the small courtyard showed that the owners were nowhere to be seen.

 _Which means there's no one to tell me to scram before I can get a good look at these beauties!_ Jaden had to stop himself from outright giggling with glee. Wringing his hands with anticipation was entirely involuntary.

Jaden looked around again just in case. The courtyard was completely blocked in by the surrounding buildings. The only way in was through the small alley Jaden had used to get there. The far wall was actually a large metal garage door, probably big enough to fit a car or two.

 _This must be the back door…_ Jaden couldn't think of another reason why there'd be such a large door that lead to such a narrow exit. Said door was currently closed, but a small gap at the bottom showed there were lights on inside. Satisfied that the rightful owners weren't coming back without a warning, Jaden turned back to the stunning mechanical ladies.

Both were incredibly different, but breathtaking in their own way.

One was a bright cherry red that drew Jaden's eye immediately. The shining chrome of her chassis only made the red paneling stand out even more. The handle bars were set higher than normal, the bike's body sweeping down in a dramatic curve that had the seat set low, leaving the rider to be positioned in a semi-recline. She drew your eye no matter where you looked; demanding attention from anyone who passed by. She was a dynamic _Lady_ in a red dress.

 _A Badass Lady with tattoos who could kick my ass…and I'd probably thank her for it._ Jaden shook his head at the thought. Fetishizing a motorcycle was not a good idea in any situation.

The only thing that seemed out of place on the bike was the helmet. A simple bicycle helmet-looking thing nestled innocently on the seat. Jaden picked it up curiously. The worn leather felt nice in his hands. He moved to put it back down when Jaden caught the decal on the back.

"Bitch" was spelled out in white cursive across the bottom edge.

Jaden huffed a quiet laugh and returned the sassy helmet with a smile. Whoever rode this _lovely_ thing certainly had an attitude to match.

Where the first bike called attention, the other _dared_ you to even glance in its general direction. As if it were shrouded in its own shadow, lying in wait for any unsuspecting pedestrians.

From end to end the bike was a sleek, polished black. It still shone in the fading light, but in the way an oil slick would. If Jaden had to pick one word to describe the second bike, it would be 'sharp'. Every part of her, the exhaust pipes, the paneling, mirrors, and even the small windshield, came to a point. Unlike the first bike, this one required the rider to almost lay horizontal, hugging the body of the bike as you drove. Anyone who rode her had to know _every inch_ of her to be able to ride at all. She was a jet black Speed Demon; a monster that ate up miles and miles of track in seconds.

Jaden's fingers itched to pick up the dark helmet and take her for a ride.

 _Geez. Even the eye shield is black! How are you supposed to see anything?_

Jaden had just about convinced himself that he could at least try on the helmet for _a minute_ when the garage door opened. He hadn't realized how quiet the small courtyard was until the clanking and clattering of the old door almost gave him a heart attack.

Jaden dove behind the bikes. The sun had set just enough that the light from the open garage cast the two figures in complete shadow.

"I'm telling you, the guy's just paranoid! If I wanted parts for my baby, I'd get them myself."

"And the fact that you've ripped parts off the others' rides?"

Jaden clutched at his chest, willing his heart to settle. The voices were still coming from inside the building, but they wouldn't be for much longer. Slowly, Jaden put the helmet on the ground, careful not to scratch it on the cement, and started to make his way back to the alley.

"Pfft! Please. If they weren't such easy marks they wouldn't need me to teach them a lesson."

"Hmph. Keep your hands off the gang's bikes. Focus on the marks in The Hub." Jaden was back in the safety of the alley when the garage door clattered closed again. Out in the open, the two voices bounced clearly around the courtyard.

"Hey! It's not my fault the stupid PSB hogs have ridiculous tracking systems on them. Maybe _that's_ why they're called _Security_?"

Jaden froze. _Uumm…did I just hear what I thought I just heard?_

"Well now you know. Next time steal a ride that isn't so hot. Maybe then we could get some parts we could actually use."

It was still a few hours 'til sunset, but the wall surrounding the city was tall enough to prolong the twilight hours. Perfect mood lighting to steal car parts apparently.

 _Looks like I found a chop shop to bust._ Jaden couldn't say why he'd decided to hide, but he was glad he had. Now he had the element of surprise. Jaden started to look for a good vantage point. It seemed to work the last time Jaden had busted a bad guy in an alley. So who's to say it wouldn't work in a small courtyard _next_ _to_ an alley?

Jaden spotted an old fire escape on the opposite wall of the alley. The ladder springs had already broken which meant he wouldn't have to make a racket trying to jump up to it. The metal landing wrapped around the building enough so that it actually overlooked the courtyard. The two figures, now making their way towards the bikes, were walking _right_ underneath the metal walkway.

 _Perfect!_ _They won't know what hit 'em!_

Jaden ran to the ladder, making his way up as quietly as possible. The whole thing was covered in rust; it was a miracle it held his weight, let alone didn't creak as Jaden climbed. Surprise attacks didn't work so well without surprise, after all.

 _Now, which hero should I use this time? I could fly down with Avian again or maybe even Clayman. He'd_ definitely _scare the pants off these guys._ Jaden climbed up on the railing. It wobbled precariously for a second, but Jaden hardly noticed.

 _Maybe I shouldn't use Clayman…don't wanna accidentally crush them with 20 tons of falling rock… Maybe I cou—!_

Something in the rusting metal finally gave after years of neglect, sending Jaden crashing toward the ground. Jaden felt his head spin and stomach _swoop._ He flailed for the platform but only managed to whack his hand on the definitely-still-hard metal on the way down. Jaden clenched his eyes shut and waited for the vertigo to stop and the pain to start.

If the vertigo stopped, that meant he had stopped falling. If the pain started, well, at least _everything_ hadn't stopped and the brunette was still alive.

"What the _hell_?!"

Jaden groaned on the lumpy ground. He felt like he'd actually managed to transform into Clayman and had created a crater to collapse in. Jaden couldn't think of another reason why he wasn't lying broken on the pavement…or even conscious for that matter. The brunette had just barely managed to open his eyes to assess the situation when he was suddenly flung to the ground again. Whatever he had landed on wasn't happy being on the ground anymore.

 _I guess that means I didn't land on the motorcycles._ Jaden raised his head to see the guy with the leather jacket pull himself up off the ground. _People are much better landing bags than giant metal contraptions._

"Heheh…Sorry about that, guys…" Jaden jumped up and started dusting himself off. He needed to buy himself time to get his breath back. The two bikers looked about ready to start dropping bodies of their own.

"So…uh…what are two fine gentleman such as yourselves doing out here on such a pleasant evening?" All three were sizing each other up as Jaden spoke. The bikers were both taller than the brunette by at least a head. From what he could tell, the blonde was slim, but ripped - or at least, his bare arms looked more impressive than Jaden's. Meanwhile, the one with the silver hair could have been hiding any number of weapons under his ridiculously huge leather coat.

Jaden had the training and the skills, but he certainly didn't look the part. Luckily, the bikers seemed to be judging him just by his looks.

"We could ask you the same thing, wise-ass," the blonde replied, slowly stalking towards the brunette. The one in the leather coat just crossed his arms, blocking the only escape to the alley.

"Well, that's an easy one." Jaden smiled easily. He knew he could take these two, he knew that the bikers didn't know that, and Jaden _knew_ he could use that to his advantage.

"I'm here to bust up some hardened criminals, but I think I fell into the wrong back alley…" The blonde kept stalking towards Jaden, although it was really more like strutting. Jaden had to stop himself from giggling when the blonde flexed 'intimidatingly'.

 _I bet he thinks he's such hot shit._

"I mean, you two? Really? Hardly criminal material." The guy in leather had never stopped glaring, but the blonde's smirk immediately dropped.

"What was that, punk?" The blonde growled dangerously but Jaden just smirked. Now was a perfect time to practice his witty banter. There wasn't much call for it when fighting giant duel monsters, after all.

"Just that I'm surprised a couple of third rate thugs, like yourselves, managed to rip off a couple of Security guys." The guy Jaden landed on glared but the blonde one spluttered with indignation. "They must have been too busy dealing with _real_ criminals and didn't notice a couple of lame-ass wannabes steal their keys." Jaden couldn't help it; the blonde guy was fun to rile up, but it was going to be a challenge to get the other one to break.

"I'll show you 'third rate'! I'll kick your ass!" The blonde rushed him, planting a foot to snap a kick aimed at Jaden's head. Jaden ducked in time to feel the wind on his face.

 _Wow. Talk about a short fuse._ Jaden blinked in surprise. He hadn't even thought about moving out of the way, his training had just jumped in for him. Jaden didn't have time to gather his wits before his mouth jumped in next.

"Is that all you got, assholes?!" Jaden ducked the punch aimed for his face, turning it into a duck to the side to avoid the kick from the guy behind him. The guy in the leather jacket didn't seem too impressed with Jaden's taunts, but the guy with _far_ too much bling looked like he was starting to enjoy himself.

"Ha! You wish, you little shit!" He dove for Jaden's legs, which would have been impressive if it weren't for the fact that it was such a completely obvious tactic. Jaden managed to jump at _just_ the right moment to leap frog his assailant mid-dive. Jaden turned, expecting to see the guy in bling crash into the wall, only to be forced to block yet another kick from the blonde man; he'd managed to turn the flying leap into a controlled tumble. The blonde man had somersaulted once, using his momentum to kick at Jaden's face from a handstand.

"Why you guys gotta aim for the face?! That's the money maker y'know!" Even though he blocked the kick, Jaden could feel the force of the blow rattle his teeth.

The blonde flipped back onto his feet and into a fighting stance. "I bet that's not the only thing." He gave Jaden a once over and winked.

Jaden shivered. The look on the guy's face was like someone dumping a bucket of slugs down your shirt: slimy, and the inescapable need to take a shower. Lacking an available shower unit, Jaden launched into the offensive.

By keeping the fight in close quarters, both fighters were limited to attempting to punch and grapple each other, it even forced the leather guy to back off or risk hitting his partner. Considering the blonde guy had thrown quite a few kicks so far, Jaden counted this as a point in his favor. It had been too long since his last sparring match at Arcadia, so a simple street brawl was the best Jaden could hope to do.

Unfortunately, his opponent's fighting style made the brawl less of a straightforward kickboxing match and more like fighting a wet noodle. The guy was thin and wiry, lean muscles taut over a thin frame yet incredibly bendy. The gold bands on his arms acted like armor so when he blocked Jaden's punches, _Jaden_ was the one who felt the impact more than the guy actually getting hit. They also added extra weight to the guy's punches which forced Jaden to use both hands to block and absorb the blow to prevent himself from breaking an arm. Yet the added weight also slowed the blonde guy's blows, giving Jaden a chance to strike back.

Of course, even when Jaden _did_ manage to throw a punch, the guy would just bend out of the way again.

"What are you? Some kind of…of…shiny, noodle ninja!?" Jaden brought his hands up, ready to block _however_ the guy decided to attack next.

"Come on, kid! Hit me! I thought you were gonna give me a challenge?" The blonde was taunting him. He knew Jaden was on the defense and didn't even bother pretending to put up a guard.

Jaden smirked. This wasn't some school yard bullying, nor a high stakes monster battle to protect the city. They were fighting in an abandoned district with nothing but the birds as witnesses. There were no paparazzi to avoid, no Divine to watch his every move and judge them. There was no one to protect but himself, and no back up on the way.

Jaden was alone and was just starting to get the hang of it. Exhilaration thrilled through his veins like fire, setting his nerves ablaze with anticipation. It was time to let loose.

"Careful what you wish for!" Jaden rushed forward, forcing the blonde back towards the wall. Bling Guy sidestepped, just as smug as Jaden had been about the move that would have made his opponent eat brick. Maybe more so, since Jaden had proved himself to be less flexible than Noodle Man and therefore less likely to dodge.

Which meant that when Jaden used his momentum to run up the wall, jump, and use Bling Guy's shoulders as a launch pad, he was completely stunned.

Jaden flipped off the blonde's shoulders to land directly in front of him. He took a second to plant himself (he had moves, but Jaden wasn't a ninja like _some_ people) and enjoyed the dumbfounded look on Bling Guy's face.

"You just might get it!" Jaden smirked. His next punch landed without a problem. Right in the face.

The blonde's head flew back to almost smack into the wall. He caught himself though, one hand on the wall behind him, the other clutching at his bleeding and probably broken nose.

 _That's gonna hurt in the morning._

"Ooh! Sorry about your money maker! I hope you had it insured!" Jaden bounced on his toes, ready for the next bout. The other guy was a noodle, a ninja, a good fighter, and Jaden had only managed to land a single blow. But it was a good start. All Jaden had to do was keep bouncing off the walls.

Jaden was about to do just that when the blonde finally looked up. Jaden froze. He felt his heart stutter before trying to escape from his chest.

The blood from the blonde's nose was dripping down his face. Most of it getting into his mouth that was stretched into an obscene smile. Too sharp, too wide, showing too many teeth. His smile seemed like it was trying to cut the blonde's face in half. But it was the look in his eyes that had Jaden's stomach turning.

They say the eyes are the window to the soul. If that were true, the blonde's soul had been brutally murdered and swallowed by some blood-thirsty demon. What Jaden saw in the other's eyes promised more bloodshed than a measly bloody nose.

The blonde straightened, his eyes focused unblinkingly on Jaden, his smile stained red with the blood still dripping down his face. Jaden took a small step back before he could stop himself.

"Uuh…looks like someone's ready for round two. Bring it on." His opponent's demeanor might have changed, but that didn't mean Jaden couldn't beat his ass into the ground.

 _If midfight banter doesn't throw him off, maybe the psychotic break will…_

Jaden's palms weren't sweaty, his knees weren't shaking, and there was no sudden chill down his spine. All the same, Jaden couldn't help the feeling that this fight just got a lot more difficult.

The blonde's eyes flicked to somewhere above Jaden's head. His smile grew.

"Wha—Ghk!"

Jaden was too busy with the blonde to notice that the guy in leather had snuck up behind him to wrap a belt around Jaden's neck. He yanked hard, stopping Jaden from breathing for a few precious moments, making his eyes water. Jaden struggled to pull away to just _breathe_ but stumbled instead. The leather guy and his improvised garrote following him until Jaden was held up against the man's chest, barely choking in air.

"Tough luck brat, I think he likes you." His voice was sibilant and rough, like the cold slick skin of a snake sliding over sandpaper; completely at odds with the warm breath at Jaden's ear.

Jaden was starting to panic.

The man had to bend down to keep the pressure on Jaden's neck, but he could still feel the light brush of the man's hair against his cheek. Held captive like he was caused the man's leather coat to drape around the smaller teen, blocking his peripherals. Jaden was surrounded by blackness, and with the spots starting to dance in his eyes, all he would see soon would be more blackness.

Jaden felt a dark chuckle rumble through his back.

 _How is this my life?_

And that's how Jaden found himself in a chokehold by a guy with a leather fetish, while facing down a bling-tastic noodle ninja with a hard-on for smack talk and punches to the face.

Jaden's mind stuttered. Amidst the desperate, internal shouts of _air!need!ohgod!air!_ and _goddammitI'mbetterthanthisshitgoddamn,_ there was now _Dontlookatthepantsdontlookatthepantsdontlook!_ careening through Jaden's inner monologue. He _really_ didn't need to know how right he was, or was not, about the blonde guy's 'situation'. Adrenaline did funny things after all. No need to check. Jaden kept his eyes locked on the man's face.

"That was a nice stunt you pulled back there. He didn't see it coming at all." The silver haired man commented.

The blonde punched Jaden in the gut, forcing out whatever air Jaden had left. The pressure on his neck eased enough for Jaden to gasp in some more, only for the belt to tighten once again. The blonde punched him again.

"So what do you think now? Still third rate?" After each blow forced the air out of Jaden, the belt would loosen enough for him to take a breath, and then tighten again. All the while, the man kept whispering in Jaden's ear. It seemed that the blonde was too focused on landing blows to the brunette's gut to continue bantering on his own.

"You really stepped in it, huh kid? Is this what you had in mind? Getting your ass handed to you?" The panic was rising in his throat but was trapped by the garrote. Because of that and the lack of oxygen, Jaden was having a hard time focusing.

A punch.

The taste of fear.

A breath of relief, then pain again.

"Or maybe you were looking for something a little more _exciting_." Despite the fear and rushing in his ears, Jaden could still hear the dark promise in those words. Jaden shivered.

The guy in leather must have given some sort of signal. The punches stopped coming and suddenly Jaden found himself dragging in large lungfuls of air. He was still held tight against the man's chest, the belt still rubbing his throat raw, but at least Jaden could _breathe_.

"Life not everything it's made out to be in The Hub? Tsk tsk. And look at this." Jaden had been trying to inch his fingers under the belt, but froze again when it tightened in warning. "How could any perfect parent let their _precious_ baby get even a single scratch? Let alone the so called 'Security'." The man's voice held nothing but contempt. The blonde shared his sentiment by spitting in disgust.

"If you want _real_ security, you should run with people who can actually back up what they promise. Who can handle themselves in a fight _and_ watch your back."

 _Is this guy really..?_

"People like us!" The blonde cut in.

"And people like _you_." The man cut in. The pressure let up on his neck again. Just a little more and he could maybe make a break for it.

"Waddya say, kid? Wanna take a ride on the wild side?" The blonde smirked, mischievous and dangerous all at once.

 _Oh. My. God. He is! Seriously?!_ Jaden coughed through his sore throat.

"I-is that how you sweet talk _all_ the ladies?"

Whatever mirth had made it back to the blonde's humanity morphed back into rage. Jaden's blood ran cold at the sight, but couldn't help but to give a strained chuckle.

 _It was such a perfect setup. How could I not?_

The man in leather chuckled as well, completely ruining Jaden's awesome line. Jaden managed to suck in another breath before the belt tightened again. If he came out of this whole ordeal without losing any brain cells, Jaden would be surprised.

"Don't worry. We've got all the time in the world for you to change your mind…"

 _Shit._ Jaden's vision started going fuzzy again. There was a roaring in his ears and bright spots of light were taking up anything else he could possibly see. Everything was gray and fuzzy at the edges except for the bright spots of light slowly getting larger.

 _This is it…I'm gonna pass out…they're gonna take me back to their hideout…chain me to the radiator…make me watch celebrity monster duels on ice…_

The lights stopped dancing then disappeared entirely, as well as the roaring in his ears. Apparently Jaden wasn't as bad off as he had thought. He could just make out another person making their way towards the group.

 _Great…now there's another civilian. He's seen too much by now…_ Jaden watched the blonde turn towards the newcomer, seemingly in slow motion. Things might have gone south from what he'd originally planned, but there was no way Jaden was going to let anyone else get hurt because of _his_ mistakes.

 _Here goes nothing!_

Jaden jerked his head forward, the pain flared again at the sudden strain to his neck, then slammed his head back again. He felt a crunch, a flash of warmth on his neck, and then sweet relief once again. Jaden scrambled to stand between the newcomer and the two bikers. He was wheezing, but at least he was conscious and on his feet.

"St-stay behind m-me!" Jaden's coughing was worse this time. His voice was weak, but it was firm. The bikers looked on in shock, both now sporting bloody noses.

"Took you long enough! Where the hell have you been?" The blonde was smiling again, all aggression suddenly gone. Almost like they were all gathered for a barbeque and the last person had finally showed up with the chips. "You missed all the fun!"

"…uuuh…what?" No one was paying Jaden any attention. The blonde was still smiling, no hard feelings over the recent fight-turned-beating-and-attempted-gang-initiation.

The silver haired guy popped his apparently _broken_ nose back into place and Jaden grimaced at the snap it made. Jaden turned to the still silent guy behind him to see if he was as confused as Jaden was and just about fainted on the spot.

If anything, Jaden blamed his flailing and stumbling on the recent lack of oxygen. He would have fallen flat on his butt again if the new guy hadn't caught him.

"Easy."

Jaden knew he was gaping like a fish, but he couldn't help it. Of all the back alleys in all the city, he just had to happen upon the one Jaden was in. What were the odds that he'd run into the same guy from his _first_ attempt at solo heroing?

"Uuh…I…um…" The other guy just quirked a brow at him before turning back to his 'friends'.

"Marik. Explain."

The blonde shrugged like it was no big deal. "What? Don't look at me! That kid's the one who started it!"

"Marik, calm down. Go get your bike. We're leaving." The silver haired man cut in again. The blonde 'tsk'ed and walked over to the red Lady. The guy in leather watched him go then strode over to Jaden and the new guy. His nose was perfectly straight again, but two lovely shiners were already starting to show up. Jaden felt a little proud at the sight.

"Yusei."

"Kiryu."

Jaden was glad to _finally_ have a name to go with all the faces, but really, stuck in the middle of a macho contest wasn't exactly fun. And 'Yusei' still had a tight grip on his upper arm. Unless he wanted to draw all the attention to himself again, Jaden wasn't going anywhere. Not that he would have wanted to go anywhere in the first place. The whole situation was still confusing and leaving without a clear answer to what the _heck_ was going on would just be disappointing.

While Kiryu and Yusei continued their Staring Contest of Wills, Jaden took the time to really _look_.

Of the three, Kiryu had the lightest hair and skin tone. His silver hair and pale skin gave him an almost undead vibe. The only color on him was gray, black, darker gray, and more black. Even his eyes were a flat, metal-gray color. Whatever kind of gang these three were in, Kiryu was definitely the leader. No one would be able to pull off the all black, Dark Harbinger of Death look and get away with it without being in charge.

The blonde, Marik, was grumbling to himself. His skin was darker than the others', a dark and even tan that was either natural or required the kind of upkeep that one could only achieve with a gold membership to a tanning salon. During the fight, Jaden had noticed that Marik's eyes were a deep, royal purple, which complemented the lavender sleeveless shirt he was wearing. Thick golden wrist and armbands, heavy gold earrings, a perfect tan, and the sleeveless shirt and skin tight black pants to show it all off? Maybe he _did_ have a gold tanning salon pass, and maybe he even had a personal beautician on retainer for his 'blonde' hair.

Really, out of all of them, Yusei looked the most like a 'normal person', crazy highlighted spiky hair notwithstanding. He was wearing the same blue leather riding outfit he had the last time Jaden saw him. At least the t-shirt he was wearing underneath looked normal. Yusei's leather seemed _functional,_ unlike what the other bikers were wearing, despite the strange orange shoulder guards. _Mostly_ functional in any case. Although they must have a thing for matching their clothes to their eye color in this gang. Yusei's eyes were a deeper blue than Jaden remembered. They were focused, piercing, and sent chills down Jaden's spine.

Jaden's heart was racing in a way that he wasn't sure he could blame on the adrenaline. He was still staring and heat was rushing to his face and Jaden didn't know _why._ His eyes were darting all over the taller guy's face when they landed on the gold tattoo on Yusei's cheek.

Jaden blinked. His heart was still thumping a mile a minute, his face was still flushed, but that tattoo…Jaden looked back at Kiryu. He had one too. In fact, Kiryu's tattoo was an exact reflection of the one Yusei had. Jaden couldn't tell if Marik had a tattoo somewhere as well. Not that he would have been able to tell his jewelry apart from a metallic tattoo.

Kiryu sighed, drawing Jaden back to the present. "Don't worry about it, Yusei. It's nothing. The kid'll be fine." Jaden snorted, but kept his thoughts to himself. Whatever was going on, it was obviously over and he wasn't exactly keen to fight three on one at the moment.

 _At least not without a head start and some cough drops…_

Yusei still held Jaden by the arm and moved him so the brunette was slightly shielded from Kiryu. They were both still acting like Jaden wasn't there, but even Jaden could tell that was far from the case. Whatever their staring contest came down to, the brunette was the cause. He was suddenly glad to have Yusei between him and the creepy, leather coated biker.

" _Kiryu._ " Yusei said, warningly.

"I said it was nothing. Right, kid?" The Staring Contest of Wills was still going strong even if Jaden was suddenly included in the conversation.

"Yup. All good here. We're just fine and the bestest friends ever!" His voice was scratchy, but he still managed to get in all the sarcasm and energy the situation deserved. Macho standoffs were fun and all, but Jaden was starting to miss Marik and his banter.

Kiryu flicked his eyes to Jaden's and smirked. "If that's the way you want it, kid."

 _Ooooor maybe not. No more banter for me, please. I seriously can't tell if I just joined a gang or not. At least if Marik had said that line I'd know he'd mean_ more _than friends._ It honestly hadn't taken long for Jaden to tell that Marik had all the flirty-funny bones out of all of them; he just wished the others had a sense of humor that didn't give him the heebie-jeebies.

Something on Yusei's face must have agreed with him. Kiryu smirked, but held his hands up in surrender and backed away towards his own bike.

 _Okay, so leader-man with the awesome-leather-coat Kiryu just lost the Macho Man Staring Contest of the Ages to some punk who can't drive his own bike through downtown?_ Yusei's tattoo shone for a second as he relaxed, drawing Jaden's eye again.

 _Maybe the tattoo is some kind of status marker…_

Before Jaden could think on it further Yusei pushed him towards the alley. "Leave. While you've got the chance."

Jaden was breathing easier and was steadier on his feet. He could feel his Duel Monsters shifting restlessly in their deck. They had a small taste of excitement and were ready for more. Jaden was ready and willing to give them the chance. Only his throat was injured, and that barely hurt anymore.

His throat twinged in pain, almost like trying to swallow with a barbed wire necklace, as if to make a point. Jaden winced but otherwise ignored it. There was definitely something going on with these tattooed bikers, something bigger than what Jaden had overheard. He felt like he was on the brink of finally being able to _do_ something on his own. Now wasn't the time to give up.

"'While I've got the chance'? What, you gonna fight me next? You sure about that? Cuz I totally just kicked your friends' collective butts." Jaden addressed the back of Yusei's head. He hadn't turned after pushing Jaden away.

Yusei turned just enough to pierce Jaden with one deep blue eye.

" _Leave._ "

Jaden flushed and his heart was jackrabbit fast again. Whatever feeling had gripped him before was back tenfold. His body was reacting in a way that it shouldn't when faced with an opponent. Jaden couldn't stand it.

He needed to find out more about their gang and chop shop plans without actually joining the gang itself. At least not yet, anyways. He already had enough secrets without having to add another to the list. Jaden needed more information, but there was no way he was going to get more out of them by just standing there and talking.

Jaden made eye contact with Yusei again and shivered.

Especially not when Yusei was so tight-lipped in general. Jaden could almost count on one hand alone how many words Yusei had actually said so far.

 _Maybe later. For now, maybe a tactical retreat would be good._

Jaden tried his best naïve smile, but it felt unnatural even to him. "I'll see you guys later then." Jaden could feel Yusei's gaze follow him as he turned and left the little courtyard. Jaden walked a few blocks, then turned down another alley, before he felt like he could breathe easy again.

"Daaaaamn it. That could have gone better." Jaden lightly touched the wound on his neck and winced. His hand came away clean, but Jaden could feel the heat coming off of it. "Of course, it definitely could have gone worse. I think I'll call this one a tie." Jaden peeked out the alleyway to make sure they weren't following him.

"I bet I could use Sparkman again and follow them. But then again, that Yusei guy has seen him before…might tell the reporters again." Jaden frowned at the thought. There was no way Yusei could have been the one to shoot the video from the first time, since he was also in it. But Yusei was actually a real life thug, not an innocent civilian with brake troubles, but a _criminal_. Maybe he had connections that were involved with the video and was using it for some kind of…something.

Jaden wasn't sure how anyone could use amateur footage of Hero events for personal gain, but he was sure Yusei and his gang could find a way.

He pushed the thought away. Jaden slapped his cheeks and started jumping in place. Anticipation was on the rise again, Jaden practically buzzing on the spot.

"Alright! I got this! I can do this!" He pulled a card from his deck and smiled down at it. "I mean _we_ got this." Jaden raised the card in the air then slapped it down on his bare arm. He watched his arm slowly turn blue, the ground inching further away as he grew before having to shut his eyes against the bright light of transformation.

Jaden blinked his eyes open, grinning excitedly, and felt his newly formed cape flutter behind him. He used the opportunity to strike a dramatic heroic pose.

"Let's do this, Bubbleman!" Jaden almost made it ten steps before he heard a scream from the opposite direction. He stopped, conflicted. Jaden could hear the revving of motorcycle engines, there wasn't much time to lose if he wanted to tail Yusei and the others.

There was another scream and this time Jaden could make out some shouts as well.

"Get yer hands off my sister!"

A quick pivot and Jaden was sprinting to the new commotion, away from where he knew the biker gang was heading. Whether to follow the people he knew were no good and who _might_ be up to something or to investigate a conflict with trouble already started with unknown players was hardly a decision at all.

 _Like my daddy always says: 'When in doubt, follow the screaming.' A little strange, but it hasn't failed me yet!_

Jaden was comfortable enough to admit to himself that he was a little disappointed that the bikers and their potential plans to go steal bike parts were going to get away with it. But at the same time, if they were going to try and rip parts off another Security bike, he could rest easy knowing they were in for a harder time than they thought. Jaden knew for a fact that the Security Officers were downright paranoid about their rides, motorcycle or otherwise. He still remembered the paperwork Jaden had to fill out the first time Flame Wingman was required to ride in one of their blimps. Not. Fun. And that didn't even include the fifty million regulations he'd had to memorize.

Bubbleman rounded a corner at a sprint, coming upon a group of guys in robes struggling with two teens in the middle. He took in the scene with a blink. Bubbleman raised one of his blasters and fired two shots at the men on the fringes. Large bubbles sped towards the men before exploding with loud pops, flinging the targets to the ground.

Hopefully they were clean hits and the two targets were unconscious. Bubbleman was in the fray proper now and didn't have time to check. He could see three more of the robed men throwing somekind of weapons around, trying to hit a tall blonde teen.

 _Are those yo-yos?_

The thought barely crossed Jaden's mind before one of the yo-yos was flying at his face. He got a fist up in time to catch the string around his arm. As soon as it stopped winding around, he grabbed the string and _yanked_. Thankfully the robed man who threw it still had a tight grip and went sailing into Bubbleman's fist.

"Fear not, citizens! Bubbleman is here to save the day!" Jaden had made it to the teen's side and nearly had a heart attack.

 _What the_ hell _?! Is today 'Give Jaden an Aneurism Day?!_

"What the fuck 're _you_ lookin' at?! Don't help me, help _her_!"

Jaden looked to where Jou was gesturing, _I can't believe it's Jou! What the heck?_ , and saw two more robed men trying to drag a girl with long brown hair away.

" _Jou!_ "

Jaden swung his stolen yo-yo at Jou's assailants, leaving the blonde with a little bit of breathing room, before flipping over to help the girl.

"Unhand the lady, ruffians!" The robed men only growled in response. This was grade A material and they were giving him nothing. Figuring it was simpler to end things quickly, Jaden grabbed the attackers by their collars and knocked their heads together.

 _Quick and painless. Mostly. Can't knock the classics!_ Giggling to himself would have ruined his image, so Jaden just gave the girl a little bow before turning back to the last two. Jou was holding his own, landing successive crushing blows, but hey, when you're on a roll…

One last shot from Bubbleman's wrist canon sent the last two the way of the first two: out cold in a heap on the ground. He picked up the two that had been trying to take the girl and carried them over to the rest, dumping them all in one big, purple-robed pile.

"Are you alright, citizens?" Jaden turned to the last two people standing. Jou had rushed over to the girl as soon as he could, running his eyes over her worriedly looking for injuries. The girl seemed to take the fussing in stride.

"Uuh..yeah. Thanks, man." Jou moved to stand between the girl and Bubbleman, ready to take on the new weirdo even if he'd just seen him beat to a pulp the guys he'd been having trouble with only moments before.

"No need to thank me, citizen! It is my sworn duty to protect those in need!" Jaden tried to reassure his friend. Jou didn't look too comforted, but the girl giggled, obviously amused by Jaden's theatrics.

"Thank you, kind sir, for helping us." She stepped towards Bubbleman, ignoring Jou's hissed 'come back here!'.

Jaden knelt with a flourish of his cape. He gently took the girl's hand in his gloved one and placed a light kiss to the back of it. She giggled again.

"It is my pleasure, my lady. I am honored to be of service to you and your companion. Please don't hesitate to call on me again should you need my assistance. Upon my word, these streets will be safe to all who travel along them!" Jaden continued to kneel before the girl throughout his entire speech. Laying it on as thick as he could, to the amusement of one and the exasperation of the other.

"Yea, yea. Where were you last week? Sure coulda used yer help then."

Jaden dropped the act as he stood.

"This isn't the first time you've seen these guys?" Jou nodded gravely. His shoulders relaxed when he realized Jaden was done with the flowery talk.

"We've seen 'em around a coupl'a times, hangin' 'round dark alleys 'n bein' creepy. Just thought they were more lunatics like those Society nut-jobs."

Jaden thought back to his recent experience as Avian and the guy in the robe he'd landed on. He hadn't thought much about it at the time, and he was starting to regret it.

"Streets just ain' safe anymore. That's why I've been walkin' my lil sis everywhere." Jou ruffled his sister's hair. She smacked his hand away with a pout, but the smirk on his face was unrepentant.

"No worries, citizen! Bubbleman is on the job!" Jaden hated to break up the moment, but now seemed like the time to beat a hasty retreat before someone asked any compromising questions.

"Say… You wouldn't happen to know Flame Wingman would ya? Think you could get me his autograph?" Jou looked Bubbleman up and down appraisingly. Jaden tried not to flinch under his inspection.

 _Questions like that…_

"Uuh...well…y'see, I work alone. And uh…" Jaden found it was easier to stare off into the distance when he was taller than Jou. Although he didn't have time to enjoy it. On the other side of the street, Jaden caught a glimpse of someone ducking behind a building.

"Ah! It seems one of the rapscallions has gotten away! Never fear! For I, Bubbleman, am on the job!" While he was gesturing wildly, Jaden slipped one of his trackers onto the pile of unconscious creepy guys. Once that was done, he sprinted off towards the retreating figure.

Jaden thought he heard Jou grumble something about 'adrenaline junkie wannabees' before he was out of earshot.

"Busy, busy, busy. So many opportunities for fighting crime today!" While Jaden was happy to go from one fight to the next, he tried not to think about the days when he wouldn't be able to be there. That was what Public Security was for, but still…

Bubbleman rounded the building he had seen the figure disappear behind and came to another cramped and dark opening. He wasn't sure if it was another alley or just poor city planning. Either way, Jaden was making "alleyways" the first stop on crime fighting nights in the future.

After running into two people he already knew that night, finding a third hiding in the shadows wasn't exactly surprising anymore.

"Greetings, citizen! Are you injured? Public Security will be here soon to apprehend the criminals. Should you require medical assistance…" Jaden trailed off. He could see that the other wasn't obviously injured, so it was doubtful he'd need any first aid. But that was just more confusing for why they were there in the first place.

The last time Jaden had run into this particular guy in yet _another_ alleyway, he hadn't thought much about it. It had looked like a regular mugging situation and the crazy haired teen hadn't said anything different.

He hadn't said much, in fact. Now that Jaden thought about it, the guy didn't even look shaken up about the whole ordeal. Jaden knew Jou was a pretty tough guy himself, and after holding his own against the robed men, even he had looked a little rattled. Of course, it looked like this teen had just been observing a mugging this time around, but most people would be a _little_ freaked out at watching a violent crime in progress.

Said teen was now staring Bubbleman straight in the eyes. He was perfectly still. Beyond statue-still, and directly to _unnaturally_ still. His face was blank but Jaden had the feeling he was being laughed at all the same.

"How long have you been watching? Why didn't you call Security?" They were perfectly logical questions but for some reason Jaden felt inept for asking them.

Jaden was surprised when he actually got an answer. He was expecting a smirk or sardonic laughter, maybe even more silent staring. At least Jaden managed not to jump at the other's deep voice.

"He looked like he could handle himself. The girl is fine." The last part was said so quietly Jaden almost didn't catch it. The mysterious guy was already setting Jaden's hair on end, but now warning bells were starting to go off. It didn't sound like the guy was glad Jou's sister was okay.

This guy was just going to watch a girl get kidnapped while her brother was beaten and possibly taken as well. Really, the strange guy had twice been found in dark alleys, away from Security cameras and prying eyes, when the creepy purple-robed men had been involved.

Actually, Jaden had never seen the mysterious guy and the robed men be anything but civil to each other…Jaden was starting to think he had jumped the gun that first time before checking if there was an _actual_ mugging happening.

"You don't understand the forces you are dealing with here. I suggest you stop interfering before you get yourself hurt."

Whether it was a warning or a threat, Jaden wasn't sure he cared. Twice now, people Jaden had assumed were innocent bystanders had turned out to be less innocent than what he'd originally thought.

 _Well, Jou seemed pretty normal. But now I'm not so sure…_

Jaden's stomach turned at the thought of suspecting one of his new-found friends. It had only been a couple of days, but Jou and the others had already become important parts of his life. Jaden almost felt like throwing up and it was all this guy's fault.

Chazz's face jumped to Jaden's mind.

The angsty bully had been a pain for as long as Jaden had known him, short as it was. Despite that, Jaden still wanted to do all that he could to reach out to the other boy. Jaden _knew_ , deep down, that there was good in him.

As much as Jaden wanted to write this creepy guy off as just another street thug, he couldn't do it. For one, he didn't have _proof_ that this guy was bad; just an uneasy feeling. For another, it just wasn't in Jaden to completely hate a person to the point of refusing to try and help them if he could.

Heck, he still wasn't sure about Kiryu, Marik, and Yusei, and there was a lot less ambiguity about their actions. Jaden had even tried befriending Chazz more than once, and he knew he'd be trying again the next chance he got, no matter what.

"That sounds like something a criminal mastermind would say… _are you_ a criminal mastermind?" Jaden tried to ask jokingly, but couldn't keep the suspicion from creeping into his

voice.

"Sometimes I'm not even sure myself…" The other teen chuckled, almost to himself.

The sound was somehow not as mocking as Jaden thought it should have been. It was deep and dark, making Jaden's skin crawl, but at the same time, it was melancholic.

Something in the other's eyes wrenched at Jaden's heart; as if Jaden's soul recognized the loneliness in his eyes and was straining and stretching itself to reach out and comfort the other teen. Or maybe to take the sorrow upon himself to save the other from the pain. Jaden gasped, suddenly breathless at the sensation.

The feeling abruptly vanished when the mystery guy suddenly disappeared into the shadows.

Jaden rushed forward to stand exactly where the guy had just been. Bubbleman had had the guy backed up against the wall of the building; there was no way he could have slipped by without Jaden noticing. It was almost as if the mysterious guy had phased through the old brick wall itself.

Jaden placed a hand on the wall, dumbfounded.

 _Yup…completely solid…_

"…well that was maddeningly unhelpful…and completely unexpected."

Jaden released the transformation with a dull pop, absentmindedly catching Bubbleman's card before it could flutter away. The brunette stood and stared at the wall, mind whirling. He stayed that way for a few minutes before blinking several times and finally coming back to himself.

"Well…that happened." Jaden had turned and walked about five blocks before realizing he was heading home without even thinking about it. He looked down in confusion at the duel card still in his hand. Jaden calmly put the card back in his deck before striding towards the Hub.

It was not the time to question everything he'd ever learned about physics. Clearly he didn't know much in the first place if people were walking through walls now. He knew he should be more worried about the consequences of mysterious figures coming and going from, say, bank vaults and what not, but Jaden could only think about how _cool_ it would be to walk through _walls_.

"Now _that's_ what I call a superpower. An honest to goodness mutant ability." Jaden crossed his arms behind his head and walked, staring at the sky in wonder, completely at ease once again. All worries of ghost people, purple cults, and roving packs of bikers gone from his mind.

"If it even _was_ mutant. I've never seen Aki do anything like that before. And Jim and I certainly can't pull it off, so I don't think it was duel spirit related." Jaden hummed to himself, lost in thought.

If it turned out the guy _was_ connected to the robed men, then he'd make a good arch rival for Jaden to track down and fight for the fate of the city in a final showdown. Maybe on top of the tallest building during a thunderstorm, or in an abandoned building right as it's about to explode. Maybe even on top of a blimp!

But if he _wasn't_ a bad guy…if he was just another misunderstood hero-in-the-making like Jaden had been… Jaden started compiling a list of potential pranks the two could pull once the other joined the Arcadia Department.

Jaden's phone rang, interrupting his glorious prank fantasies. Thankfully the thing hadn't broken after falling from the fire escape and had escaped any damage from Jaden's fight with Marik.

He looked at the caller ID and blanched.

 _Shitshitshitshit! What time is it?! It can't be that late already! Oh man, I am_ so _dead! For sure this time!_

" _Fuck._ " Jaden's fingers shook as he answered the call.

"H-hey, dad! How's it hanging?"

 **Okay, this marks the beginning of chapters written during NaNoWriMo. So I have my buffer back and will hopefully have a few more chapters posted sooner than twice a year….sorry about that… Anyways, I've dual-posted DUEL Heroes to AO3 if anyone is interested. Same story, different site. But I will always post here first! :) Hope everyone still likes it, and if so, teeeellll meeeee. ;)**

 **Happy Holidays! 3**


	5. Chapter 5

If anyone asked, Jaden was _not_ pouting. Not that anyone was actually going to. Yet another suit snapped to attention as Jaden passed by. Jaden sighed, ignoring the way the man frantically scrambled away, and slumped to the elevator.

He'd made it back to the apartment in record time last night, but it hadn't made a difference.

First he was chewed out for not telling his dad where he was going after school. Then for staying out past his curfew. His dad really didn't say much in the way of reprimanding, but he didn't really need to for Jaden to feel guilty. Then he had caught sight of the bruises circling Jaden's neck and had spent the rest of the night applying first aid and making Jaden an easy-to-swallow dinner.

Jaden knew his dad loved him; that he cared for and supported him as a Hero. But that didn't mean he didn't worry about him constantly. No matter how many rampaging monsters Jaden fought, he would always be that lost little boy in his dad's eyes. Jaden loved him to pieces, but sometimes he could just be so overprotective.

The elevator dinged as it climbed to the top floor.

Of course that didn't mean Jaden got away without being punished. Any plans he may have had with his friends that weekend were now canceled. And now here he was, headed to the top of the Arcadia Department instead of at school like he should be. The scientists downstairs had said something about an incoming monster attack so Divine had called him in before Jaden even had a chance to wake up. He couldn't help but think it was some kind of ironic karmic punishment.

No action as a registered Hero so he starts going solo only for Flame Wingman to be called in as soon as things started to pick up.

"I convince dad to let me go to public school and I immediately get into fights and miss curfew. This has got to be some kind of cosmic joke." Jaden was still brooding, _not_ pouting, when the elevator finally stopped.

The view from the Arcadia Building was fantastic. You could see out a huge window in every direction, the building so tall the people directly below were nearly invisible specks. City building regulations kept buildings from extending too far above the Wall for safety reasons, but the Hero Department was a special case. The view could extend all the way to the Wall, and on a clear day, sometimes even beyond. It was a towering fortress of glass and steel, and practically at the center of Neo Domino City, which made it the perfect place from which to watch over and protect everything and everyone.

Needless to say, everyone who worked for Security were incredibly _green_ with envy.

The view inside, however, was less impressive. The Arcadia offices were stereotypical, simple office cubicles, complete with inspirational cat posters and everything. The PR Department made it seem like there were guys in spandex wandering around a brightly colored fun-land when really, it was just stern guys in black suits; hardly any fun at all.

 _It's actually kinda depressing now that I think about it…_

Jaden made his way to Divine's office as quickly as he could. Usually he'd stop and chat or try to see how many salutes he could dodge. He had yet to make it all the way across the room with less than two salutes. Stealth had never been Jaden's strong suit. But this morning Jaden wasn't even up to the attempt.

Jaden poked his head into Divine's office and attempted to force some enthusiasm into his voice.

"You rang?"

"Hello again, Jaden. Have a seat. It's been awhile." Jaden snorted and plopped into one of the puffy leather chairs. Divine smiled, completely serene and giving nothing away to why Jaden was there.

"So I hear there's gonna be a big smackdown soon. D'you need me to Hero up? I usually just get a text…"

"Yes, you and the others will be needed within a few hours. But first, I'd like your opinion on something." Divine gestured to the large screen TV that was currently paused in the middle of that morning's newscast. With a click, sound filled the room and the screen was moving again.

"…other news, late last night a new video of yet another unauthorized Hero has been posted to an anonymous blogsite."

On screen the newscasters disappeared to be replaced by blurry video probably taken on their phone.

"As of now, the authorities have yet to comment on whether this Hero is in any way connected to the incident earlier this week."

Jaden's heart took an immediate plummet to his stomach. They had frozen the video on the image of a large man in a blue cape in the midst of firing his wrist canon.

 _Aaaw maaaan! Not again! How do these people keep finding me?!_

The image shrank and the newscasters came back. "The Hero Department claims this new vigilante is unaffiliated with the Arcadia Department, although some theorists believe otherwise. No one is sure whether or not this is in fact a Hero with duel energy such as those in Arcadia or simply a man with no duel energy at all. There have already been reports of copycats who have decided to take the protection of Neo Domino into their ow—"

The screen abruptly went black. Without the noise of the news, Jaden was sure the sound of a pin dropping would be louder than a bomb going off.

 _Or some other metaphor for how incredibly_ dead _I am right now._

"Wow…uh that's pretty…y'know. Surprising. I mean—"

"Jaden." The brunette's mouth snapped shut. He kept his eyes on the floor and waited. Jaden wasn't sure if he could be fired, but he didn't want to find out.

"This is the second time this week you've broken protocol. And both times you've been caught on tape." Jaden winced but didn't look up. So Divine knew about Sparkman, too. The last thing he wanted to do was give something away about the Avian incident, so Jaden stayed silent.

"I hope you realize how serious this is? We've just added two new members to our roster, agents who haven't even had their first assignment yet, and now this." Divine didn't raise his voice nor did he sound angry; he was just _serious_. If anything, it was like being told that there was an axe murderer in the next room and being quiet was the only chance for survival.

Divine was good at those kinds of voices. Jaden still got goosebumps, no matter how often he'd heard it during briefings.

"It's only because you are who you are that there won't be more drastic consequences that this kind of behavior warrants." Silence stretched between them once again while Divine let that sink in. Jaden knew there was still something more coming, but he felt some of the tension drain from him anyways.

The Arcadia Department was the only division of government that had weaponized duel energy. As such, any person found with the capability to _use_ those weapons were brought into the department. Technically, Jaden was the most powerful weapon the city had against the rampaging monsters.

What would happen if someone outside the department got their hands on that kind of power? Not just someone with evil, world-dominating plans, but even just a regular person. According to the news, people were already putting themselves in danger fighting the smaller monsters _without_ duel energy weapons of their own.

And Jaden had just gone and shown them how. He was meant to protect people. To be a role model and example for how Duel Monsters could work together with people. But now he was online, on TV, showing everyone new 'Heroes' under no one's command; new vigilantes that were above the law. Even worse, he made it seem like Arcadia couldn't handle their own weapons.

Jaden counted himself lucky that the mayor hadn't called for their immediate disbandment. As far as Jaden was concerned, he deserved whatever punishment Divine had in store for him.

He should be ashamed for being so sloppy.

The Hero Department, Arcadia, Divine, even Flame Wingman, had reputations to uphold with the city. But they also had a duty to protect. It was important to handle the large scale attacks as well as the small scale.

What would have happened to Jou and his sister if Jaden hadn't done something? How long would it have taken Security to even _know_ something had happened? And the men in robes? Or that Shadow Guy? Did Security know about them? Did Divine?

Jaden glanced up to see Divine staring the brunette down over clasped hands. Appraising the teen to see if he truly grasped the full implications of his actions.

 _I don't think now would be a good time to tell him about the purple cult I found…_

"This is your last chance, Jaden. You need to get your head on straight; remember the role you play as a part of this team." Jaden kept his head bowed even as hope slowly rose in his chest.

"You're our most powerful asset and the new recruits have a lot to learn from you. Don't take away their chance." Taking that as the cue to leave, Jaden scrambled to the door while trying not to make it look like he was scrambling.

He stopped, one hand on the handle, and turned back to Divine. Jaden should thank him for sticking his neck out for him. Apologize. Promise to never do it again. But it would be a lie. Jaden owed Divine so much; nothing he said would convey what he felt in that moment.

Divine saw the confusion and guilt in Jaden's eyes and just smiled. Divine waved him to the door. "It's fine, Jaden. Just please be more aware in the future. Now go get ready. I'm sure the others are anxious to see you."

Jaden grinned, all remorse wiped from his mind, and with a quick salute, was gone. The door snapped shut and Divine sighed, a fond smile on his face.

* * *

After asking around a bit, and suffering through more 'Yes, Mr. Yuki, sir!'s than he could stand, Jaden found out that Jim and Aki were showing the new recruits around the building today. Jaden had no idea _where_ exactly, so he just wandered around places he thought would be interesting to show new people. He would have liked to be there to see the look on their faces when they saw all the cool toys Arcadia had, but that's what happens when you're only called in for emergencies and photo-ops.

 _Why call in James Bond when there were perfectly good grunts wandering around?_

They weren't in the gym, or the cafeteria. The guys in R&D said that they hadn't seen any of the Heroes lately. Which was a shame, really. Those guys had the coolest stuff just lying around all the time. Jaden always had fun bugging them for jetpacks and things, no matter how many 'No, Mr. Yuki, that's not what this Department is for and could you please not touch the highly unstable prototype? There's no reason for you, or anyone, to have a personal flamethrower anyway.'s Jaden got.

Jaden was reduced to checking every door he came across, hoping for clues.

"How many closets are in this place? Maybe I should check the basement…I bet there's loads of awesome stuff down there!" He'd never been to the basement before. Jaden knew he was on a time limit, but he could never resist a good adventure. The brunette was bouncing on his toes as he waited for the elevator.

When it finally arrived, however, he was surprised to find exactly who he'd been looking for. Or at least one of them, anyway.

The new recruit snapped to attention. His heels clicked together, his back ramrod straight and his salute executed at the perfect angle; even his eyes were averted. It was honestly the most impressive salute he'd ever seen. Jaden snorted, highly entertained nonetheless.

"Uuh…at ease?" That's what you were supposed to say in these situations, right?

"Sir, yes, sir!" The new recruit shouted, completely unnecessarily considering they were barely three feet away from each other. He widened his stance into a classic 'parade rest', but he was still standing stiff with his eyes averted.

"…right. I'm Jaden. Nice to meet you." Jaden stuck a hand out, hoping the new guy would recognize the casual tone of the conversation Jaden hoped to have. It would be better in the long run for everyone if they guy would relax a little.

Jaden winced when the guy startled at the introduction. Flame Wingman's secret identity was top secret to everyone outside the Hero Department. Jaden's true identity was probably the first thing they told the two new recruits during initiation.

"Holy-! You're him! I mean, he's you! The Flameman—I mean! You, and him!" The kid's stuttering was so endearing. He was just so enthusiastic and flustered, Jaden could only think of him as a kid even if they were practically the same age. His eyes were wide with awe, hands flying jerkily around his head.

Jaden just stood and smiled, waiting for the kid to run out of breath. Although the elevator had other plans.

"Sarge, it's so good to finally meet you! This is like a dream come true! Corporal Brodie is gonna be so jealous that I met you first! Can I—" The kid just kept going, hardly stopping as the elevator doors slowly shut. Jaden could actually still hear him going on the other side.

Jaden burst out laughing even as he pushed the button again. The door opened to the new recruit now spouting apologies. Jaden slung an arm around the guy's shoulders, still laughing, and led the poor kid out into the hall.

"Dude! Chill already! It's good to finally meet you too. What was your name again?" Jaden picked a direction and walked away with the kid still trapped under his arm. His laughter had subsided to chuckles, but the two had still managed to draw attention from various office workers.

"Private Kenzan Hassleberry at your service, sir!" Hassleberry attempted to snap to attention again only to stumble as Jaden continued to drag him along.

"Alright then, Hassleberry. You seen Jim or Aki anywhere? I heard they were supposed to be giving you guys a tour?"

"Yes, sir! Sergeant Aki was showing me all the essential offices and personnel that I'll be working with. She's a quiet one, but heck if she ain't efficient. We just finished and then I think she headed off to the helicopter pad."

"Heh, yeah. Aki doesn't really talk to anyone. You should let me show you around sometime. I can show you all the shortcuts and introduce you to the techies. Maybe _you_ can convince them to get me some rocket-powered rollerblades." Jaden nudged Hassleberry, only half joking.

"That'd be so cool! But Sarge, can't you, or that is, can't Flame Wingman fly? Do you really need rocket-powered skates?"

"Are you questioning your superior officer? _Private?_ " Jaden stopped abruptly, hands on his hips to stare Hassleberry down. The kid jumped back to attention, any familiarity gone from his posture.

"No, sir! Sorry, sir! It won't happen again, _sir!_ " Jaden held his serious face for about two seconds before bursting to laughter yet again. He reached up to grab Hassleberry in a headlock.

"I'm just messin' with ya, man! Relax. I'm just a regular guy like the rest of you. Noogies and all." Jaden ruffled Hassleberry's bandana covered head with his free hand. The other teen relaxed and let it happen, laughing along with Jaden.

"But no more 'sir's', alright? Just Jaden is fine." 'Just Jaden' released his captive, both now with huge grins on their faces.

"Whatever you say, Sarge." Hassleberry smirked at Jaden's small huff of fake exasperation.

"Well it's a start, at least. So if Aki's on the roof, would you happen to know where Jim is?"

"Sure. Last I saw them they were on the thirty-second floor. Something about showing Cpl. Brodie his personal office space."

"Huh. Do all Heroes have offices?"

Hassleberry shrugged. "I've got my own locker in the locker room?"

There was a beat and they shrugged at the same time, prompting identical grins.

"I'll catch you around, Hassleberry." Jaden held out a fist expectantly.

"You're on, Sarge." Hassleberry met the fist bump with his own. They stood like that for a few seconds, just smiling and grinning at each other. It almost felt like they had just struck some kind of friendship pact.

 _If only it were always this easy. I hope this 'Corporal Brodie' is at least_ half _as easy going as this guy._

Jaden said his goodbyes and promised to hang out with Hassleberry the next time he was in the building before making his way back to the elevators. He graciously ignored Hassleberry's shouts of "I just met _the_ Flame Wingman!" as he went.

* * *

Jaden was starting to get antsy after all the elevator rides. First no schooltime adventures, then no basement adventures, and if he didn't get out of these elevators soon there wouldn't be any duel monster adventures either.

"Maybe I should check in with the R&D guys about that transportation portal I asked for weeks ago…" When the doors finally opened he practically leaped through. He turned down a few hallways before spotting a tall guy in a cowboy hat and a large reptile strapped to his back.

"Hey, Jim! Ready to go kick some Duel Monster tail?" Jaden jogged towards the other Hero, careful to telegraph his position as he went. Jaden happened to be on Jim's blind side and Shirley, the large crocodile, was prone to snapping at people on that side.

"Jaden! Long time no see, mate!" The two Heroes grasped each other's forearm in greeting.

Jim was the coolest guy Jaden knew and he always felt contact coolness when they were in the same room. "Heard you were on the news again. And I _don't_ mean as Flame Wingman." If the man still had two eyes, Jaden was sure Jim would have winked conspiratorially. As it was, there was definitely laughter in his eye. Jaden blushed and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Heh, yeah. I've already talked to Divine about that." Jim threw his head back and laughed. He slapped Jaden on the back to show he meant nothing by it, but Jaden just blushed harder.

"Ha! I don't doubt it! I was just finishing up with Axel here." Jim patted the other man on the shoulder. Axel looked Jaden over, seemingly confused why Jaden was there. "Axel Brodie, meet Jaden Yuki."

"Nice to meet you. I just ran into your partner, Hassleberry, downstairs and I'm looking forward to working with you both." Jaden smiled, hand out for a handshake.

 _I hope he does the forearm thing like Jim. He looks like the kind of guy who would._

Axel looked down at Jaden's hand as if it were a particularly strange insect.

"This has to be a joke. He's just a kid." Axel asked Jim in disbelief. As if he couldn't, or wouldn't, acknowledge Jaden's existence. Jaden blinked, taken aback. It was a given that people in the Hero Department took everything a little seriously sometimes, and they usually got even more stuffy when they learned who Flame Wingman actually was for the first time. They were never hostile, though.

"Yeah, well, you're a young adult. What of it?" Axel looked down his nose at Jaden, practically sneering. Jaden felt his hackles raise at the obvious disdain in his eyes.

"You're just a scrawny kid. Hardly any muscles on you and by your attitude I'll wager you've never had a formal training day in your life. Your whole demeanor is unprofessional. It's astounding that someone like _you_ is the 'number one' protector of this city." Each word was said matter of factly, and without hesitation. He sighed, part anger and part frustration.

"All that time spent at the academy, the blood and sweat, and you just waltz around like this is all some kind of silly game." Axel never raised his voice, but as he went on, the chatter around them grew silent to listen in morbid curiosity.

"Enjoy your playtime with the babysitters. I'll be on the training deck if things get too serious for you." Axel stomped off to the elevators.

Jaden felt like he'd swallowed a rock. His face was flushed with anger and embarrassment. Of course he felt bad that Axel was upset, but at the same time, he wasn't exactly wrong. Jaden loved being a Hero. The rush of fighting, the possibility of losing only to come out on top. Jaden loved the feeling so much he went out looking for more.

But Axel had no idea what Jaden had been through during the Chaos. What he'd done to get where he was today. Jaden glanced around to see everyone was suddenly much too busy to be eavesdropping.

"O-okay…well! C'mon Jay! Let's go meet up with Aki and get this show on the road! Shirley's been itchin' for a good brawl. Ain't that right, girl?" The large crocodile strapped to Jim's back growled and snapped in agreement.

"Yeah. Let's go, I guess. I'd hate to keep Shirley waiting." Jaden attempted a smile. Jim slapped the smaller brunette on the back, making him stumble.

"Now that's the spirit! C'mon, before Aki decides to leave without us!"

"Mind if we take the stairs?"

* * *

A quick helicopter ride and the dream team were assembled once again. They stood atop the tallest building they could find as they watched Security officers evacuate the surrounding area as quickly as possible. Duel Monster appearance predictions could only do so much. The duel forecasters were kinda like weathermen: expensive equipment and hours of intense math, all for only vaguely helpful results.

"So what kind of monster do you think we're looking at this time? My money is on a mud monster." Jaden turned to Aki, trying to draw her into a conversation while they waited.

Aki, AKA The Black Rose Witch, was an incredibly powerful telepath. Divine and the other trainers in the Hero Department believed her powers were connected to duel energy somehow, but they had yet to figure out how. All Jaden knew was they were linked to Aki's emotions. Of the three Heroes, Aki had the most trouble keeping herself under control. In all the time they'd worked together, Jaden and Jim had learned that keeping her grounded in the present was the best way to help before a big fight.

"Nah, mate. Shirey's been oddly restless today. Dragon type, no question."

"I'll take that bet. The usual?" Jim smirked as an answer and the two forearm-shook on it.

"By the way, Aki, have you been watching the news recently?" Jim asked.

Aki continued to stare out over the city. She was absolutely still, despite the high speed winds that threatened to knock the small brunette off his feet. She gave no indication that she'd heard him, but Jim and Jaden could tell Aki was listening.

"You wouldn't believe it, but Sparkman was in a high-speed chase through downtown. Poor kid was probably spooked outta his gourd. What ever happened to that guy, I wonder."

Jaden huffed, definitely pouting. "Nothing. His brakes weren't working. After I caught him, he fixed it and was on his way again." Jaden tried not to think about how convenient that sounded now that he said it out loud.

Jim laughed, a full belly laugh. He nudged Aki and jerked a thumb at Jaden. "Y'hear that? Our top star goes rogue to stop a mild fender bender. You ever seen anything more ridiculous in your life?" He stage whispered to the maroon-haired woman. Or more like quietly shouted, to be heard over the wind as it started to pick up.

"Bubbleman. With yo-yo's." Aki's deadpan response had Jim in stitches, nearly bent in half trying to catch his breath as he laughed. Jaden groaned, hiding his face in his hands.

"Not you, too!"

"Aw, no worries, mate. We know you've been spoilin' for a good fight. I'm just surprised you didn't do it sooner." Jim ruffled Jaden's hair, making it even more tousled than the wind could manage on its own. Jaden pouted after the man as he moved away to secure Shirley more firmly in her harness.

The clouds above started to darken, slowly, then all at once, until there was a perfect circle of dark purple clouds directly above them. The duel forecasters were surprisingly on point this time. Jaden readied his deck when he felt a hand gently pat him on the head. He looked over to see Aki staring down at him through her mask.

"Be careful."

Jaden smiled softly. "You too." He reached up and patted Aki on the head as well. She nodded, then turned toward the monster portal.

 _I wonder what the Duel Monster world looks like…_ The clouds were getting thicker and somehow more solid-looking as the three Heroes watched and waited. The wind was reaching a fever pitch as lightning started to flash, arcing between the sky and the city below, but never actually touching down. The center of the portal was something darker than black-it was an absence. The clouds merely surrounded it, not an actual part of the portal itself, and even the lightning darted away as if to avoid it.

 _On second thought, traveling through universes doesn't sound so fun after all. I'll just stick with my own world, thanks._ Jaden was still contemplating roaming the world in search of grand adventures when the Duel Monster finally made an appearance.

Unlike the portals, Duel Monsters tended to materialize wherever they wanted. The portal was a rift between their world and the monsters' but that was it. They never crawled out of the portals proper, but would always appear in the immediate area. The bigger the portal, the bigger the monster and the more powerful. The portals weren't always big enough to cover several blocks, like this one, but Jaden had yet to see one that was smaller than a house.

Then again, he was only really called in when they were a threat to the city. If there ever was a portal the size of, say, a small poodle, he'd never seen it.

"Ha! Looks like I win our little wager. Hope you're ready to pay up!" Jim yelled over the storm.

A dragon the size of a small fighter jet had appeared, screeching, over their heads.

"Aw, man! How does she do that?!"

Jim tipped his hat and smirked. "Animal instincts, mate."

The dragon was smaller than the few Jaden had fought before, but it was fast. It wasn't bulky, but it was boney and almost skeletal-looking. Its skin was an off-yellow color that reminded Jaden of sandstone. Or yellowed teeth. It seemed to be all sharp teeth, even on the outside. The only points of color Jaden could see were bright red scales all along the dragon's sides. Something about the monster made Jaden feel like it was something more ancient than Jim's fossil deck.

"Well, I don't think I'll be able to do much good t'day. I'll see what I can do in the way of ground support; try t' keep that thing from leaving the area. You two put that fella back where he came from. Sound good?" Jim was shuffling through his deck as he talked. Jaden may have been working as a Hero longer than anyone, but Jim was the one who called the shots.

Not that Jaden minded. He was good with coming up with strategies and things, but it usually just boiled down to 'hit it til it stops moving'. Jim had more tact than that. Not to mention he actually trained with Aki all the time, so he knew everyone's strengths and weaknesses and how to best use them in a fight. Jaden would bet that by this time next week Jim would have learned all about the newbies too.

"Roger that, good buddy!" Jaden shouted back. Aki simply nodded, not taking her eyes off the dragon. It was currently circling around the perimeter of the portal, closer to the clouds than anything else, but it wouldn't stay there for long.

Jim found the card he was looking for and stepped up to the edge of the building. Jaden could feel the wind still around the taller man before it started whipping in a mini tornado around him. He couldn't see it from where he was standing, but Jaden knew from experience that Jim's covered eye was glowing an eerie green under the bandages. Jim raised his card over his head and shouted, summoning his own Duel Monster.

"I summon Paleozoic Fossil Dragon, Skullgeoth! _Come forth!_ " A bright light burst from the card in Jim's hand and the earth started to rumble. A similar light shone from the streets below, forming a summoning portal for Skullgeoth. The ginormous tyrannosaurus skeleton rose from the ground, roaring in answer to Jim's call the whole way.

Jaden had never summoned his Duel Monsters the way Jim did, so he didn't really know how the summoning was different from the portals. It was the same way the Pros did it in the Arena, so Jaden supposed it couldn't be that complicated if it could be _taught_ , but when Jim had tried to explain the concept of pocket dimensions and alternate energies it just made Jaden's head spin. Suffice it to say, Jim was the only person in all of Neo Domino allowed to summon outside of a pro-duel, although Jaden had yet to see any of the Pros have such complete control over their monsters like Jim had.

Jim's powers were telepathic like Aki's, only a lot less powerful. He could communicate with his Duel Monsters with such fine control they were almost indistinguishable from the wild and destructive monsters that came from the portals. The fossil monsters had become family to Jim much the same way that Shirley was; they had a certain connection that couldn't be taught.

Skullgeoth lowered his head so Jim could climb on. Jim waved his hat at the two remaining Heroes still on the roof and headed out. The dragon was starting to spiral down towards the city. It was still screeching periodically, obviously pissed off about something.

"We should really work on our catchphrases. Maybe something like, 'Let's roll out!', or maybe even just a team name to shout as we charge into battle or something. Oh! We could shout 'For Neo Domino City!'" Jaden frowned, deep in thought. How they had gone this long without a battle cry or a team name was beyond him.

 _You'd think the PR Department would make that their first priority._

Jim's Skullgeoth was about the size of a five story building, and usually the gigantic T-rex would be overkill for a monster that size. But considering this was a _flying_ dragon, all he could really do was swipe at it as the dragon soared by. It was possible Jim could get the skeleton to throw a rib or two, but that wouldn't last for very long; there were only so many ribs one could throw before collapsing on oneself. Not to mention little arms weren't the best for throwing things.

Skullgeoth roared, snapping at the dragon when it got in range. As Jaden watched, he had the sudden urge to watch Godzilla vs Mothra. It was almost kinda funny, like a cat trying to catch a laser pointer kind of funny. At least it was helping to keep the dragon from getting too low and wrecking the buildings.

The small dragon opened its mouth and loosed a stream of fire that burned a hole through one of the high rises. Jaden winced.

 _Well, sort of, anyways. Better than flying straight through buildings, I guess._ Jaden sighed and turned to Aki.

"You better get out there. I won't be able to do much until that portal gets smaller." The words had barely left his mouth before Aki was off, using her powers to leap from building to building.

The longer the portal stayed open, the more it shrank. Jaden had gotten pretty good at judging how long it would take a portal to close, and this one still had a few minutes to go before it was in range of Jaden's transformation limit. It took a lot of energy to merge with his monsters and fifteen minutes was his best time so far. If he transformed too soon, they'd be stuck a man down and Jaden would be on his way to a coma.

 _Or death, if I can't land first, which would be the worst thing ever. I can_ not _pull off the street pancake look._

Aki leaped across roofs until she was across from Jim and Skullgeoth. Once in position, she started ripping off pieces of building to hurl at the dragon. Whenever it would fly too close to Skullgeoth, the dino would snap at it and force the dragon towards Aki. And each time, another piece of building was used as a weapon.

Jaden sighed again. "And there goes the neighborhood. What is the point of trying to protect the city if we're just gonna rip it to shreds anyway?" Jaden turned his head to the portal again, keeping one eye on the fight as he did. His fingers stroked his deck absently as he watched the portal shrink.

There was an otherworldly portal to the unknown swirling 500 feet over their heads, a monster from those unknown depths raining fire down on his friends. Yet all Jaden could do was wait for the clock to run down and deliver the final devastating blow to save everyone who called the city home. He should be anxious, his heart should be racing with adrenaline at the danger…and yet…it didn't feel…real.

 _Not gonna lie, I'm super pumped to get going. Air battles are the best…but I could be looking for the Shadow Man right now, or even tracking down Yusei and his cronies._

What was with that guy anyway? He fakes a brake malfunction in order to, what? Crash into a café and steal all their bagels? Jaden supposed that Yusei could have been trying to draw Security's attention and when Sparkman showed up and ruined whatever plans they'd had planned, just fixed it immediately.

Jaden felt his deck shifting in response to all the duel activity going on. Jaden stroked them comfortingly. "Don't worry guys. We're still gonna get some action." Jaden felt the cards pulse beneath his fingertips before he heard the dragon screech, piercing and triumphant.

The dragon had continued to circle, dodging Jim and Aki's attacks as it went. They had been keeping the dragon corralled between them, but now it was streaking and swooping around Skullgeoth's head.

Aki was nowhere to be seen. Jaden's heart skipped a beat before he saw Aki swinging on her rose vines to another building.

The dragon fired at Skullgeoth's face to little effect. This time it sounded angry as it dove around the giant skeleton. Jaden crossed his fingers, hoping to see a cowboy hat still perched on a _living_ Jim. Since fire wasn't having an effect, the dragon decided to dive directly into the dino's chest. It rebounded, but still caused Skullgeoth to stumble into a building, showering the street in glass. If Jim was anywhere on that dino there was no way he was getting out of this fight without a scratch or two. The dragon used its momentum to swing around and away from the fight altogether.

"Oh no you _don't_!" with barely a thought Avian and Burstinitrix were slapped on Jaden's bare arms and Flame Wingman was chasing after the monster. Jaden fired a few blasts of his own. The thing practically squeaked in surprise, but it didn't stop and fight like Jaden had hoped. It looked like the dragon was determined to get somewhere, and fast.

"Whatever you're after, it ain't happenin'!" Jaden flexed his wing and shot in front of the fleeing dragon. It reared to avoid him but Jaden still managed to shoulder check the dragon backwards to the portal.

The dragon was thrown through the air, flipping end over end before righting itself again. Jaden fired another blast straight down its throat before it could screech again or retaliate. The resulting explosion sent the dragon tumbling again, skidding across the top of a skyscraper, trailing smoke along the way.

Jaden swooped in and grabbed the dragon by one of its spines with his clawed hand. He tossed the stunned dragon towards Skullgeoth; hopefully Jim and Aki had recovered enough to rejoin the fray.

Rose vines shot out to wrap around the dragon. It thrashed against their hold, ripping the vines away faster than they could appear.

Even after it was free, even though they were all in its way, the dragon still attempted to flee in the same direction it had tried before. Skullgeoth jumped and managed to grab the dragon's tail as it went by. The dragon buffeted the T-Rex with its wings, finally enraged as most duel Monsters were when they first appeared. It attacked Skullgeoth with its wings, it firing in every direction it could manage, and it even attempted to bite back. Although, from the pained cry it gave, that last tactic probably didn't work very well at all. More and more of Aki's vines were wrapping around the indignant dragon, lashing it to Skullgeoth's jaw.

Jaden hung back and watched as Jim had Skullgeoth walk the trapped monster directly under the portal once again. As soon as the dragon was in position, Jaden would attack from below and push it back into the unknown. The portal was still large enough that the dragon would fit through easily, but Jaden would still have to time it just right to make sure that the portal would close before the dragon could appear again.

As he waited, Jaden looked back over his shoulder to where the monster had been so determined to go. There wasn't much to see in that direction, but Jaden supposed it _was_ the fastest way to the Wall. He caught sight of the Academy and Jaden's blood ran cold. The young Hero was suddenly fiercely grateful that the thing hadn't gotten to make it that far.

"Like hell am I gonna let you hurt my friends!" There was no one there to hear, but the heat that fueled the threat also propelled Jaden back to the monster. Flame Wingman's dragon-headed hand charged with an even more powerful fire in preparation. There was a roaring in his ears that could have been shouts from the others, but all Jaden could think about was the thought of that _thing_ ; fire licking at the walls of the Academy as his friends screamed.

Flame Wingman screamed defiantly at the squirming and defenseless Duel Monster. He knocked the other monster out of the way and wrenched it away from the plants that held it. Still he screamed. Flame Wingman pushed the dragon ahead of him as he flew up towards the portal. His claws gripped it by the neck so tightly its scales started to crack. Flame Wingman brought his other hand up to bear, point blank at the creature's face. The fear in its eyes didn't register in Jaden's mind. When Flame Wingman fired, the force of the fireblast propelled the creature the rest of the way to the portal to be swallowed up by the darkness.

When Jaden finally came back to himself, he was back to normal, flat on his back and staring up at an empty sky. He lay there, dazed and exhausted. It had been a long time since Jaden had lost control like that. At least Flame Wingman had stayed on target with his righteous fury. Jaden's lapse aside, they had managed to return the Duel Monster to where it belonged. Jaden breathed a sigh of relief.

There was a deep, rumbling roar, quietly followed by a pitiful crooning soon after.

Jaden sucked in a surprised gasp, accidently choking as he did. He scrambled to sit up despite the protest in his limbs. Slowly, Jaden dragged his way to the edge of the building. He groaned.

"Aaaaw, man!"

Down below, in the clearing of wrecked buildings and debris, Jim was talking to the press as Skullgeoth crouched over the obviously wounded dragon from earlier. Aki stood nearby, ostensibly supervising the Security team as they scurried around the captured monster.

Flame Wingman had indeed succeeded in forcing the Duel Monster through the portal, but he hadn't waited long enough and the monster had simply reappeared minutes later. Thankfully, it had retained the damage from the fight and was easily defeated a second time. Or at least, that's what Jaden hoped had happened. Less thankfully, they now had a level three monster to take care of and no way to return it to the great, big, swirling darkness no longer in the sky.

Jaden drew Avian and Burstinitrix from his deck, relaxing a bit to find them still there. He whispered a quiet apology and put them back. He couldn't blame them for what had happened; it wasn't their fault that he'd let his fear for his friends take hold of him. Jaden had lost his focus.

Jaden groaned and let himself flop back to the ground. The groan turned to a hiss of pain. Everything hurt. He hadn't taken a single hit, but he must have maxed out his transformation limit before Flame Wingman released it. Jaden's duel energy was completely drained and it was going to be a while before he could replenish it. Jaden sighed, watching a cloud float by.

"Not like I'm going anywhere anytime soon. I'm gonna be grounded _and_ on probation at this rate." Jaden didn't know how long he'd been lying there when he heard footsteps.

"How you holdin' up, mate? Still with us?" Jaden glanced up to see Jim standing over him. He threw an arm over his eyes.

"Woe is me! I can see the light, now! Tell my dad that I love him, and that I'm sorry for eating the last slice of pizza!"

"Ha! That's what I thought. You'll be fine. Get on up here." Jim was grinning as he helped Jaden up. He caught Jaden as he stumbled without missing a beat. Shirley grumbled in greeting, deigning to let the boy be in Jim's blind spot.

"Go on without me." Jaden hissed. He really wanted to curl up into a ball and never move ever again.

"C'mon, now. None of that. Can't let the yuppies catch ya up here. And you know Divine is gonna want t' talk to ya." Jaden groaned again, louder and more dramatically.

"Don't remind me. Divine is gonna have a cow. I messed up _big_ this time." The two Heroes made their way through the building.

"Hey, now. It wasn't that bad. So Flame Wingman jumped the gun. No sweat. It's not like this is the first time we've missed a window before. Luckily it was a dragon type so the DMC will have no problem storing it." Jim smirked down at the teen.

"By the way. Don't forget about that bet we made; you lost, mate." Jaden threw his head back and groaned again, going limp in the taller man's arms. Jim stumbled a little, laughing. Jaden yelped when he was lifted into the air in retaliation. The two Heroes made their way to the Arcadia vehicle waiting for them, Jaden bemoaning his 'death' the whole way there.

* * *

By the time they'd made it back to the Arcadia Building, Jaden was recovered enough to walk through the gauntlet of cheering employees on his own. Although Jaden wished he wasn't. If he were still leaning on Jim, then he could at least pretend they were cheering for them all and not just Flame Wingman. The applause was still enthusiastic, but Jaden knew if he were transformed, it would be deafening. As it was, people were wondering where the big green Duel Monster went between emergencies. A few people were even so brave as to comment loud enough for Jim and Aki to overhear them.

"Good thing Flame Wingman showed up, huh?"

"Would have been in a real pickle without Flame Wingman."

"Duel chasing again, eh, Jaden?" Besides the last guy, who got a vague smile in response before being ushered off by some agents, everyone was completely missing the fact that Flame Wingman had showed up late then left early. Jim and Aki had done most of the work, but it just didn't matter. All they saw was (an admittedly kick-ass) Flame Wingman single-handedly taking down a dangerous Duel Monster.

Jaden kept his head down, shrinking in on himself. Not everyone in the Arcadia Department knew Jaden's super-identity; only the ones directly involved with the Heroes-the Hero Department-knew everything. Hopefully their reception would be more appropriate up there.

Of course, Divine was also up there. If there was any justice in the universe, Divine would let this little, hardly worth mentioning, mistake go without too much thought. Compared to what he was already in trouble for, being too eager could be considered commendable.

Jim ruffled Jaden's hair, a silent 'Don't worry, lil buddy.' Jaden smiled back and the three rode to the top floor in companionable silence.

There was still applause from the Hero Department, but the comments were more constructive than anything. The analysts were already typing away, logging the Duel Monster's stats and updating the Heroes' profiles. Some of them were shouting questions about how heavy the dragon was, or how dense its hide was; most were just mumbling to themselves. A couple of the trainers shouted compliments on their fight and advice for next time.

Jaden got consoling pats on the back.

 _Great. They all noticed I lost control. Perfect._ Jaden braced himself before entering Divine's office.

The head of Arcadia was still seated at his desk as if he'd been there since Jaden had left only a few hours earlier. One look at the Heroes and Divine quickly waved them towards the couch to the side of the room.

"Come in, everyone. Please, sit down. You must be exhausted." Divine stood and moved to stand in front of his desk. He leaned back against it and instantly looked far less imposing than he did when he was sitting behind it. Jaden felt the tension in his shoulders disappear.

"Looks like you guys had a tough one today." Divine wasn't addressing anyone specifically, but Jaden flinched anyway.

 _Oh look, the tension's back._ Divine saw Jaden flinch and smiled soothingly.

"Yes, there were some hiccoughs, but you all handled it wonderfully. It seems your training is paying off. Jim, maybe we can start working on summoning more than one monster at a time. We'll start off small and work our way up. Let's get started on that this week, sound good?

"Sounds like a plan, boss!" Jim tipped his hat and Divine gave a lazy salute in return.

Divine turned to Jaden with concern. "Are you alright, Jaden? That hasn't happened in a while. Did something go wrong?" Divine's concern was almost as bad as his ire. Jaden squirmed in his seat.

"It was headed towards the Academy. It looked like it was trying to leave the city, but…" Jaden trailed off, remembering the fear for his friends, and the irrational _fury_ at the dragon for going near them at all.

Divine nodded in understanding. "It's alright, Jaden. Anyone would lose control in that situation. We'll have to work harder on that to make sure it doesn't happen again." Jaden sighed quietly in relief. He'd gotten off easy.

"You two are dismissed. Aki, could you stay here for a minute?" Divine's voice was soft and gentle as he spoke to the teen, as if she were a small animal about to bolt.

Jaden glanced over to see that the maroon-haired teen in question was sitting upright and stiff-backed. She hadn't taken off her mask. Slowly, the two boys left the room without a word. Divine and Aki stared at each other the whole time. Jaden glanced back at the two before closing the door. Divine was whispering in soothing tones, slowly kneeling to be at Aki's eye level.

Jaden felt his stomach roil with guilt. Aki had used her powers for too long. In order to cover for Jaden's mistake she had drawn herself into her powers and lost connection with her surroundings. She had been operating on autopilot since the fight had ended, and he hadn't even noticed. Jaden's guilt grew.

"Some teammate I am."

Jim was staring at the door as if he could see what was happening on the other side. "It's not your fault. It just happens sometimes." The two stood, lost in their own worlds, before Jim sighed deeply. He turned to Jaden as if he'd come to a very important decision.

"Whelp! There's nothing we can do about it now. I'm gonna head down to the mess. Comin' with?"

"Nah, I'm good. I think I'll hang around here a little more. Maybe it's not so bad this time." They both glanced towards the door again. "Maybe we'll meet you down there." Jaden asked, more than said, hopefully. It would be nice if they could all sit and eat together. Like the old times when they were all new to the super power business.

Jim was staring at the door again, a small frown on his face. "…yeah…maybe…" He was practically whispering. He blinked and seemed to come back to himself. His smile was forced and couldn't hide the sadness in his eyes.

"I'll catch ya later, then, mate. Take care of yourself." Jim waved as he walked away. Jaden watched him go, feeling uneasy.

"He must be more worried than I thought…" Jaden didn't have a chance to dwell on it as there was someone shouting his name, running towards him.

"Sarge! Jaden! I heard all about the fight!" Hassleberry stopped before the brunette. "You must have been awesome! I mean, of course you were. I just wish I was there to see it!" Jaden cut him off before the guy could keep gushing.

"I didn't really do that great. Aki was the one who did the most work. I messed up and she had to pick up the slack." Jaden threw his hands up in frustration before the other teen could disagree.

"And I let it escape the portal! Now there's _another_ level three monster _stuck_ here and it's all my fault!"

Hassleberry brightened at that. "I know! Isn't it great?!"

"Uuh…no? Not really? Why is this a good thing?"

Kenzan was bubbling with excitement. "Because Corporal Brodie and I have been called in to transport the Duel Monster to the Center! It's my first official mission as a Hero! Isn't that awesome?!" Jaden laughed, entertained by Kenzan's enthusiasm.

"Congratulations, man."

Kenzan's smile grew before suddenly deflating. "I just wish I could go on my first assignment with you…you're my hero…" Jaden snorted at the pun, although Kenzan didn't seem to notice. The new recruit was still pouting when Jaden had an idea.

"Y'know…I'm not doing anything right now…" Hassleberry looked up, not quite getting the hint. "I could tag along. Not as Flame Wingman, but I could follow along as super, special, secret backup…" Jaden smirked suggestively. Jim was right when he said there wasn't anything they could do for Aki, but maybe there was something Jaden could do to make up for his mistake.

There was a beat, Kenzan still staring confusedly, then he caught on all at once.

"Really?! You'd do that?! You're the best Sarge _ever!_ " Kenzan was so overjoyed that he actually lifted Jaden off the ground when he hugged him.

"Alright! Alright! Easy, boy. Down, Hassleberry, down!" Jaden said, laughing. Kenzan did, too ecstatic to be sorry for nearly crushing his 'hero'.

"C'mon. Let's go before they leave without us!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Kenzan grinned and Jaden smacked him in retaliation. Everyone who saw the two teens race to the stairs were immediately sure that the amount of mischief in the office was about to grow exponentially.

* * *

"No."

"Come on, Corporal! This is our first _official_ assignment. With the _Hero_ Department. Wouldn't it be even better with _more_ Heroes?"

They'd found Brodie on his way to the debriefing for the transfer. Now they were trying to persuade him to let Jaden in on the meeting. Or more like begging, the longer they tried to be convincing. Sure, Jaden could use his own access codes to get in, but then Divine would know exactly what they were up to.

 _It's impossible to get anything past that guy…or it used to be…_ Jaden was still impressed with how long he'd gotten away with solo stuff before getting called out on it. But trying it again, so soon and in the man's own building of all places, Jaden had decided it was better not to push his luck. Nothing wrong with enlisting a little help, after all.

"I said 'no', _Private_." Kenzan wilted at the reminder. The Arcadia Department didn't really run on the same rank system as Security, but apparently Brodie held a higher one than Kenzan. Truthfully, they could have used Kenzan's card to get in the room, but Hassleberry had insisted on asking Brodie for permission first. Honestly, Jaden didn't get it.

"I don't worship these 'heroes' like _some_ people." Kenzan blushed at that, studying his boots in sudden fascination. "Besides, I fail to see the benefit of taking _him_ with us. At least the others are intimidating." Kenzan was still slightly pink, but he still jumped to defend his new friend. Jaden looked down at himself as the two continued to argue.

He had to admit he didn't really inspire fear the way Brodie did with his giant biceps and 'look at me and die' face. Lately Jaden had used people's underestimation against them, but Jaden could understand why it wouldn't work in this case. They needed people to think twice about engaging Heroes, not run all over them.

 _It still hurts my feelings, though. I can be scary too, dangit!_ Brodie was about to enter the conference room when Jaden jumped in front of the door, causing Brodie to finally look at him. The glare he got for that little move almost made Jaden regret his action.

 _Uh oh, imminent death approaches!_

"Look, I don't know what your problem is…well, no, you were pretty clear this morning. But come on, man. Give me a chance to prove you wrong." Brodie's glare intensified, but Jaden refused to be swayed. The man sighed and crossed his arms. He obviously wasn't getting in until Jaden was dealt with.

 _If all else fails, annoy them 'til they cave. He actually broke a lot faster than I thought he would._

"You and I both know Divine didn't approve you for this assignment. What exactly were you planning to do?"

"Well, we're just going across town, and there aren't any more 'appearances' scheduled for today. So I could just follow along, all quiet-like, and be secret security for you guys."

Brodie sighed. " _Security_ will be providing the extra security." He said it as if he were explaining to a toddler. "Hassleberry and I were hired to show the city that the Hero Department is working together with the Defense Department. How would it look if there were even more heroes on such a simple mission?" Towards the end Brodie looked like he had swallowed a lemon, as if insulted that his first mission required so much backup.

"Look, man. I don't wanna step on any toes here. I know it's an easy mission. Hell, you could probably do this all on your own. No Security, no backup, no partner. I bet you wouldn't even break a sweat. Right, Hassleberry?" Said teen agreed quickly and whole-heartedly. Brodie glanced between them looking for signs that they were trying to butter him up. When he found none, he relaxed a little.

"But you know, the Hero Department works in teams, so it would look better if you at least took Hassleberry with you. This time, at least." Jaden winked. Brodie didn't smile, still waiting for Jaden to get to the point. "And if you let me tag along, give me one of those little walkies, I could be your eyes in the crowd where Security won't be as effective. Then afterwards I can tell Divine how great you guys did and maybe next time he'll put you in charge of your own team…" Jaden trailed off, watching as Brodie thought about the possibilities.

Brodie grimaced, forcing the words out as if they physically hurt, "Alright, you can come."

Jaden whooped, punching the air. Kenzan clapped their reluctant accomplice on the shoulder, the huge grin on his face showing too many sharp teeth. Brodie sighed in defeat and looked at his fellow new recruit from the corner of his eyes. "Are you happy now?"

"You bet! Thank you, sir!" The shorter teen smiled once more before swiping his card and going into the meeting. Brodie didn't smile so much as his face softened. There was still a frown, but somehow, Jaden thought the expression made Brodie look younger, almost happy. But when he turned to look at Jaden, Brodie's face was back to 'death to all who breathe'.

"Let's get this over with already." Brodie pushed past the teen, swiping his own card and holding the door open enough for Jaden to slip through. The brunette darted in before the other Hero could change his mind.

Brodie watched the young, overly-excited Hero bounce over to the _other_ overly-excited Hero and muttered darkly to himself, "This better not blow up in my face."

Jaden tried to pay attention, he really did, but it was just so _boring!_ Jaden had never been on a mission that wasn't 'stop the monster from destroying the city' and those never required a powerpoint presentation beforehand. The press conference appearances with Flame Wingman were also boring, but at least then he had the opportunity to go flying.

Currently, they were discussing the specs of the transport vehicle and describing the route they would be taking to the Wall. Interesting, but dry, and _way_ too much information about trucks for all Jaden cared.

 _Now if they were using_ motorcycles… When they started talking about transferring the Duel Monster to the Duel Monster Center, Jaden sat up in anticipation, but slumped back again when it was decided that the Center's personal security team would take over once they reached the Wall.

The DMC was located miles outside the Wall, away from the city, and surrounded on all sides by desert. Whenever a monster was trapped on their side of the portal, they were sent to the Center for containment. There were even some monsters left over from the Chaos being kept there. Jaden had never been outside the Wall before, but he had heard that the Center was using the monsters for research on duel energy. The Arcadia Department had a few scientists doing the same to develop their weapons, using the Heroes themselves as research subjects, so Jaden could only imagine what they were making at the Center with _actual_ Duel Monsters.

 _I bet_ they _could make me a jetpack…_ Jaden tried to draw Kenzan into a debate of rocket rollerblades vs jetpacks, but he was hyper-focused on the powerpoint. He didn't even attempt to talk to Brodie. So when they were all finally dismissed, Jaden practically ran out of the room.

"Come on, slowpokes! Get your game faces on! Let's go!" Jaden shouted. He made sure to grab a walkie on his way out.

 **I hope people are still out there and liking this stuff. I'm thinking things should be speeding up about now plot-wise, so sorry for the slow chapters so far. Fight scenes aren't my thing, but there should be more of them to come, so let me know how I do! I live off your criticism ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Please excuse the interruption. If anyone is still reading this/has read this far to read this, I have posted a couple of polls on my profile regarding this fic. I'm mostly wondering if the chapter length to update ratio is too much (shorter chapters/updates? stay the same?) and if anyone would be interested in reading my "Story So Far" notes that I make for myself after each chapter (there may or may not be spoilers for future chapters in there...). I'm not really good at putting in lil 'what happened last time' blurbs in new chapters, and this fic is a monster, so just give the polls a look and let me know. :) Any changes to length/update schedule will happen in 3mnths, but if there is significant response for the notes, I'll try posting it as soon as possible (probs 'DH: Story So Far' as a title).**

 **As always, I hope someone is still reading and enjoying. :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

His phone was buzzing again.

He knew his friends were just worried about him, but the Duel Monster had already been taken care of hours ago. Security had lifted the emergency protocols and people were already wandering the streets again. Jou just didn't understand what the big deal was; he could take care of himself. It was the coolest thing ever when the bubble man had shown up yesterday, but Jou could have taken the robed guys down with one hand tied behind his back.

Since the Academy had been so close to the fight that morning, the faculty had called for Security to escort the students home early. Of course, it was taking forever to get the students organized, so Jou had snuck out. Honda had caused a distraction because he was a bro like that. _Not_ because Jou was going to pick up his little sister and the brunette wanted to get on Serenity's good side.

"If he thinks I'm gonna let 'im anywhere _near_ her he's got another thing comin'." Jou growled to himself. He didn't get to see his little sister very often since she was always in and out of the hospital for one thing or another, so Jou was incredibly protective. Just remembering how close he had come to losing her still made his blood run cold.

Today Serenity had an appointment at one of the free duel clinics. It had been close to the portal, but in the opposite direction from the Academy. Jou had arguably been closer to the action than she had been, but it didn't matter. The blonde's Big Brother alarms wouldn't stop blaring until he saw her safe and sound, preferably tucking her into bed and resting like she should be. His little sister had had too much excitement lately for Jou's taste.

Jou made his way through the fight zone, whistling appreciatively at the wreckage as he went. They had broadcast the play by play from the news over the intercoms, but it was a much different thing to see the results in person. More real.

The cleanup crews hadn't made it this far, and most people hadn't been brave enough to wander back into the danger zone yet, so when Jou heard angry voices he decided to investigate. Jou crouched and moved towards the voices, using the rubble as cover as he went. He stepped behind a particularly large slab of building and poked his head over the top, hoping that no one happened to be looking that way as he did.

"Go back where you came from!"

"Eat this, demon!"

"Drag it out!"

"No way! I don't want to touch that thing!"

The Duel Monster fight had created several craters through the streets, and the group of men in white coats were currently gathered around one. Most were hurling insults down at whatever they had managed to trap down there. A few were throwing rocks. One must have hit its mark; Jou's heart clenched at the high-pitched cry that came from the crater. One of the men produced some rope from somewhere while another managed to pry a long piece of metal rebar from the surrounding wreckage.

Jou had rounded from his hiding place and was punching the rope guy's lights out before he even realized he was moving. The Society members were frozen in surprise. Jou used the opportunity to throw another guy to the ground and moved to stand between the group and the crater.

"What the hell 're you guys doin'?!" Jou yelled, ready to fight whoever stepped too close.

Somebody near the back of the group shouted back.

"What are _you_ doing? You a monster lover?" His buddies seemed to come out of their shock and started shouting too, although no one stepped forward to challenge the blonde yet. The guy with the metal rod gestured impatiently at the crater.

"Just let us through, boy. We'll get rid of that abomination. Then you'll be free of its sinister control and can return to the Light." He probably thought he sounded incredibly reasonable, but Jou just felt sick. The other Society members didn't seem to feel the same as Jou though, and were starting to close in, emboldened by their new spokesman.

Jou glanced down into the crater to see who exactly he'd gotten himself into this mess for. Any doubts he may have had evaporated into a burning rage.

Huddled in on itself was a small, orange Duel Monster. Its tail was wrapped around itself in an attempt to protect its head from the barrage of rocks. Jou could see that one had managed to draw blood: a ragged scratch stretched above one bright blue eye. The little dragon made eye contact and shifted as if to go to the teen but only collapsed back on itself, crying piteously up at the blonde. Jou turned back to the advancing mob and would have breathed fire of his own if he could.

"You bastards aren't taking one more step, ya hear me?!" This time the Society members flinched back at the blonde's anger. Jou smiled with vindictive glee.

Metal Rod snarled. "Yer gonna regret that, boy!" He raised the rod up high to bring it down on Jou's head, but the blonde saw it coming a mile away. These guys were hardly fighters. They were probably accountants taking advantage of the deserted streets to loot and feel important. This was probably the first time they'd ever been in a fight before in their lives.

Jou stepped smoothly into the swing and grabbed the arm that held the metal rod. He slammed his shoulder into the man's chest, winding him, and wrenched the rod away with his free hand. While the man was still trying to catch his breath, Jou swung the rod at the unfortunate would-be-assailant's head. The guy crumpled like a marionette whose strings had been cut. Jou twirled his new weapon and smirked at the remaining Society members.

"Who's next?" The cowards didn't even try to pick up their fallen comrades before they ran off. Jou 'tched' in disgust, flinging the metal rod away. Once he checked to make sure the guy he'd whacked was still breathing, Jou turned towards the crater again.

He knelt on the edge and carefully reached out a hand to touch the creature. The crater wasn't very deep, but if he wanted to get the creature out, it would either need to get closer, or Jou would have to climb in after it. However, he wasn't sure if he could climb back out again with the creature in tow if he did. Jou kept his voice low and tried to hold as still as possible.

"Hey there, lil guy. Don't ya worry 'bout a thing. Those nasty guys ain't gonna hurt ya no more." Jou tried to sound as comforting as possible, and when the little dragon looked up again, tried to keep eye contact. The dragon was trembling and slowly crawled towards the teen. It sniffed at his hand and crooned questioningly.

"That's it. Just a little closer. I got ya. No more creeps around here, promise." Jou smiled warmly when the lil guy butted up against his hand. The little dragon arched up against Jou's hand, practically purring. Jou looked down at the small, orange, _purring_ monster looking up at him with trusting eyes, when he was suddenly struck with what he was doing.

"Holy...holy _shit_." He was petting a fire-breathing lizard like it was some kind of house cat! "A Duel Monster. A _real_ Duel Monster! Holy crap! Holy _crap!_ " His mind was frantically running in circles around that one simple fact, body frozen with fear and shock. The Duel Monster butted Jou's hand again, crooning in question. He'd accidently stopped stroking it in his panic.

"R-right. Sorry, little guy. Hold on." Jou reached down with both hands, gripping the dragon under its front legs. He almost fell face-first into the crater when it suddenly jumped into his arms.

"Oof! Geeze! What d'ya _eat?!_ Yer so _heavy!_ " Jou struggled to lift the creature, made all the more difficult since it was wiggling in excitement. As soon as the thing made it over the edge, it suddenly found enough energy to knock the teen over. For a brief moment Jou thought he was going to be eaten, lulled into a false sense of security by its deviously harmless facade. Instead, the little dragon just attempted to lick the blonde to death. Jou laughed and tried to push the actually-the-size-of-a-mini-fridge dragon off of him.

"Easy, easy, I get it already! Yer welcome!" The dragon let himself be pushed back and settled on the teen's lap, purring in earnest now. Jou slowly caught his breath, just staring in awe at the baby dragon.

Because how could it not be a _baby_ dragon? He'd never seen a level three Duel Monster up close before, but he didn't think they were ever this small, or looked this _innocent._ It was still a duel _monster_ and Jou knew it had to have some powerful attacks, but the thing had just let a bunch of idiots throw rocks at him.

 _And now it's staring at me like I'm his momma or something…_

Jou flopped back and groaned, covering his face as if he could make the baby dragon disappear. Said dragon chirped in concern, crawling up the fallen teen to peer at his face. The air was forced out of Jou's lungs when the dragon made it to his chest. Jou looked down at him and couldn't help but smile at its worried little face. Jou patted its head and it was instantly purring again.

"What am I supposed t' do with you?" The dragon snuggled up against the teen in response, tucking its head under Jou's chin. Jou sighed, gently stroking down between its wings, smiling again as the baby dragon went completely boneless.

"I definitely can't keep ya. We're not allowed t' have dogs, so I don't think they'd be okay with a fire-breathing dragon." Jou thought about what usually happened to Duel Monsters that came through the portals and was glad that hadn't happened to the little guy.

 _Maybe the one from this morning was his momma or something…_

Jou imagined what would happen if he _did_ take the baby dragon back to his apartment, only for an angry momma dragon to tear off his roof and swallow him whole.

"Maybe I should take ya to _her_ instead. How's that sound?" The baby dragon didn't respond, but Jou took that as a 'yes' anyways.

* * *

"Come on little buddy, almost there." Jou struggled to push his way through the crowd. "Man, this's a lot harder'n I thought it'd be."

Usually Jou would be pushing people out of his way. Or at least using a judicious amount of elbow. But when you are trying to smuggle a Duel Monster through an angry crowd, starting fights isn't exactly productive. Although this was the first time he'd been in an angry crowd as a member of the Society.

It had taken some convincing, but Jou had gotten the baby dragon to wrap himself around his chest so Jou could cover them both with the white coats from the other Society idiots. Now Jou was dressed in as much white as any of the others and blended with the rest of the Society goons. Albeit as a particularly _lumpy_ Society goon.

Walking through the streets had been a strange experience from the other side. Every time Jou passed someone who drew back in fear, he clutched the baby dragon closer to him. He didn't like the looks of anger and fear directed at him. Especially the look on one little girl's face; she had reminded him of his sister. But the baby dragon needed him more than Jou needed to explain that he wasn't one of _them._

Although, the blonde _was_ proud when a couple of kids decided to try calling him names. Their parents dragged them away of course, but Jou felt his faith in the future grow. He silently hoped the kids would never fall for the Society's lies when they became adults.

The baby dragon had been quiet and calm up until they had started to catch up to the Arcadia transport truck. The amount of people on the street grew steadily until Jou was surrounded on all sides and forced to follow the crowd.

The baby dragon was not happy to be around so many people and would shift uncomfortably when anyone happened to brush up against them. Baby Dragon was starting to make high pitched, distressed noises. They were too thin to be heard by the crowd, and Jou could hear them because they were vibrating against his chest.

"It's ok, Baby D. Almost there." Jou whispered assurances to the little dragon, trying to keep him calm. No one was paying him any attention. They were all too preoccupied with shouting insults at the Security officers to wonder at the lumpy Society member whispering lovingly to his jacket.

Jou broke out the pointy elbows and quickly found himself on the edge of the crowd, pressed up against the Security line.

All afternoon, Jou had been playing catch up with the captured DM. He'd managed to take a short cut and now was slightly ahead of them. He had hoped to jump out in front to catch the Heroes' attention so they could take Baby D with them to the Center. But with Security in the way, he wasn't sure if that was going to work.

 _I'm not sure the lil guy can last much longer in this crowd. And I can't exactly whip him out right here._

Jou could feel Baby Dragon's tail tighten around his waist, trying to get closer to the blonde and away from the mob. There weren't many people who _weren't_ wearing white coats now, and Jou couldn't help but agree with the small Duel Monster.

The transport was getting closer and Jou could see the captured Duel Monster as well as the new Heroes standing next to it. Jou felt a well of excitement at the sight of them, but shook his head roughly. Now was not the time for fanboying.

At almost the same time, the mob caught sight of the dragon as well and surged forward. Jou nearly lost his footing, shoved up against the Security riot line to be immediately pushed back against the mob. Which only resulted in more shoving and angry yelling.

Baby Dragon's cries were getting louder. He was practically crawling his way up the teen's chest. Jou grit his teeth and ignored the pain of Baby D's claws digging into him.

"Screw this!" Jou held nothing back, trying to force his way out of the press of white while protecting a very small and volatile orange bomb. An orange bomb that wasn't having _any_ of it.

" _Woah_! Come on! H-Hey!" Jou wrapped an arm around his 'stomach', trying to keep the little Duel Monster in place and the mob at arms-length. Considering both were two-hand jobs, neither worked.

Baby Dragon popped up out of the jacket to stare at Jou with actual _tears_ in his eyes. It whimpered, snout wibbling, 'how could you do this to me?!' loud and clear on its little face. Jou was paralyzed in shock, fear, and guilt, allowing Baby Dragon to climb his way up onto Jou's shoulders. He clutched at the blonde's head, eyes whirling in fear at the faces around them.

The mob wouldn't have noticed the little dragon-the large one making its way towards them a much more obvious target-if it weren't for one particular goon who hadn't gotten the memo on what the color of the day was.

"Omigod! Our brother has been turned into a demon! That monster corrupted his soul!" The dude in purple shouted, pointing at the teen and his new dragon headwear.

Soon people were shrieking and there were shouts of "Out! Foul demon!" coming from every direction. The mob drew back in shock, and Jou had a chance to _breathe_ before they surged back in. They were tearing at his clothes (he let them take the stupid white coats) and trying to reach to poor little dragon on his head.

"Get yer hands _off_ me, ya crazies!"

 _Fuck this shit! These assholes are goin' down!_ Jou was done being nice. His Baby D was in trouble and Jou was all out of fucks to give.

The teen started throwing punches left and right. Every white coat that was unfortunate enough to get within reach received either a bloody nose or a black eye. Whether they stepped up on their own or were just victims of the flow of the mob, it didn't make a difference. Jou wasn't going to take any chances. He was just thankful that the dragon had decided that wrapping around the teen's neck was as far as he was going to move.

 _Although I'd give_ anything _to get at that dumbass in purple!_ Now that Baby D was out of the bag, it was back to Plan A.

The fighting was starting to spread sporadically throughout the crowd, drawing anyone and everyone into wild fist-fights. Jou was the only idiot smart enough to bring a Duel Monster into a crowd of Anti-DM's fanatics, so he wasn't exactly sure _who_ anybody was really fighting anymore. Jou would have been pissed off at the extra skulls to bash his way through if all the chaos hadn't drawn the Security officers into the fray and _hopefully_ to his rescue.

It was becoming more and more impossible to get in a good hit with the crush of bodies pressing in. But the teen wasn't above stepping on toes and biting fingers. And if someone _happened_ to get a knee to the groin, Jou was just thankful for the extra room the felled body provided. This was a brawl, and Jou had learned to never pull his punches in _any_ kind of fight.

Jou could see that the Security officers that had been trying to reach him had been caught up in the fight. But at least they had made a small gap in the riot line. If he could break past into the No-Man's land, he'd only be a few feet away from safety and on his way to the Center.

With the end in sight, Jou decided it was time to break out the fancy moves.

Jou grabbed a guy by his coat, shoving him backwards with all his strength, which was considerable since the guy took three others down with him as he went. They tumbled in a pile, a few feet of now-empty space between them and the "poor, corrupted demon-lover".

Jou grinned maniacally, taking a few running steps before planting a foot into the first's face and vaulting over his friends. Baby D squawked at the sudden altitude change, but Jou whooped in elation. He continued to bounce along, stepping on heads and shoulders alike.

From up there he could see that the fight was concentrated where he had just been, with pockets of shoving spread sporadically around it. He could even see that some people were leaning out of windows from the surrounding buildings and shouting encouragements…or insults. Everything sounded the same in a riot.

With an extra hard stomp, Jou flew over Security's heads and into the empty street.

The transport vehicle had reached the riot zone and was just starting to move past it. The dragon from that morning was strapped down to a flatbed being pulled by some kind of armored truck. Jou could either attempt to leap up onto the flatbed or try jumping in front of the truck to get them to let him in. Of the two, Jou was more inclined to try for the truck. He wasn't sure how the captured DM would react to some human suddenly jumping in its face, rescued baby on his head or not.

Before he could try, however, a set of metal stairs extended from the flatbed. Looking up, he saw that one of the new Heroes was staring down at him. The look on the dark-skinned Hero's face was enough to make Jou sprint up the stairs as fast as possible. The stairs were retracting almost as soon as Jou reached them. When he finally set foot on the flatbed itself, the Hero grabbed him above the elbow. The blonde was roughly dragged to sit by the captured dragon's head and the other new Hero.

He didn't remember their names, but now didn't seem like the time for introductions.

Jou was forced to sit so hard he bounced. Deeming it safe, Baby D scrambled into Jou's lap, wrapping his tail back around the blonde's waist and hiding his face in his chest. Jou automatically wrapped his arms around the little dragon, trying to calm him down.

The scowling Hero raised a brow at the gesture. Jou tried not to shrink under his inspection but tightened his arms around the small Duel Monster. The Hero's eyes tracked the movement. Jou shivered.

 _Does this guy not blink or what?_

Jou would have snapped at the guy, 'take a picture; they last longer' and all that, but the teen was seriously freaking out now.

Not only did the guy give him the creeps, but Jou was suddenly wondering if taking Baby D to the _Hero Dept._ of all places was such a good idea. He didn't _have_ to hitch a ride with them; he could have gone straight to the Center on his own. But Jou had always talked about how _awesome_ the Heroes were, so the thought that they wouldn't help him hadn't even crossed his mind.

 _Whatever! They ain't gonna hurt Baby D! I won't let'em! No matter who they are!_

Jou glared up at the creepy, not-blinking Hero. "What're _you_ lookin' at?" Jou knew plenty of people who would've flinch back from that kind of glare-a certain bug-brain came to mind-but the Hero merely blinked, unimpressed.

"Sit. Stay." And with that, the Hero walked back to the other end of the flatbed.

"I ain't a dog!" Jou fumed to himself. He looked to the other Hero who hadn't said a word since Jou got there. The Hero was just as off-putting as the first, standing in front of the chained DM, foot to snout, and staring down into the large dragon's red eyes with his own yellow ones. Neither the DM nor the Hero moved an inch in their staring contest. Jou felt unease slither down his back.

"Does anybody blink anymore, or is that just me?" Jou mumbled down at the baby dragon. He didn't respond, still trembling in the blonde's arms. Jou sighed and went back to stroking Baby D's spine while trying to get comfortable on the metal floor.

It was going to be a long ride to the DMC.

"The corrupted one has been united with its unholy master!"

Jou groaned. It was going to be a _very_ long ride.

* * *

When they eventually reached the Wall, Jou and Baby D were shuffled into the armored truck. Mr. Grumpy Pants, after a surprisingly short radio chat, had informed the teen that he was to go to the Center as well. Jou didn't know how to feel about that, except that he was grateful to spend a few more minutes with Baby D.

He'd never been outside the Wall before. He knew _other_ people who had, and they had all said that it was just miles of desert in every direction. Not exactly on Jou's list of vacation destinations. Even _if_ he were allowed outside the Wall in the first place.

The Duel Monster Center was a different story. Almost no one knew what they did out there. Some thought they were creating monster-human hybrids: a particularly popular rumor for Flame Wingman's origins on the fansites. Others thought they were dissecting monsters for parts to be used in everything from computers, rubber band balls, to food, even. Imagining he was eating DM mystery meat featured most often in Jou's nightmares.

All anyone knew for sure was that DMs went in, and only cards came out. The only people who knew the whole story were the Government, and Kaiba Corp.

Jou looked down at the dragon sleeping soundly in his lap. The road wasn't the smoothest ride ever, but not once did the little guy wake up. The poor thing had been through so much in so few hours. Baby D slept on, trusting the blonde to keep him safe.

The baby dragon's unflinching faith was a crushing weight on Jou's shoulders.

 _What am I doing?_ If even _one_ of the rumors were true, he was taking Baby D to his death. He'd never see the dragon ever again. Baby D hadn't done anything but show up in their world when he wasn't supposed to. Whatever happened to him now, Jou would have to live with the fact that _he_ was the one responsible.

The blonde turned white as a sheet, despite the heat. His hands shook, clammy where they held the baby dragon. Worms were eating his stomach from the inside as time felt like it had slowed to a crawl.

 _I think I'm gonna hurl._ Jou spent the trip gazing down at Baby D. His mind whirled between crushing guilt, righteous fury and determination to protect, then all-consuming despair. He'd never felt so strongly for something or someone so quickly since he had first held his baby sister.

When the truck finally stopped, Jou almost didn't notice. When he did, the teen wrenched the door open as fast as he could. To protect the little Duel Monster, he'd run all the way back on foot if he had to.

Grumpy Pants must have anticipated it though and was already standing in Jou's way when the blonde finally got the stupid door open.

 _Damn child locks!_

"Move it." Grumpy Pants shoved Jou towards the gates. Literal _gates_. The big metal kind that take three minutes to open, creaking the whole way. Actually, _all_ Jou could see was metal gate. All Jou could _think_ was that he was being led to a giant gladiator arena to fight for his life against all sorts of Duel Monsters for some fat guy's amusement. That, or a giant bird cage.

The whole place was setting Jou's teeth on edge. If it weren't for Grumpy Pants, the Security officers, the miles of desert, and the actually freaking _huge_ dragon suddenly moving towards the gates and cutting off Jou's only window for escape back to the transport, Jou would have been sprinting in the other direction. _Any_ direction that got him and Baby D away from the Thunderdome of Certain Pain and Suffering™.

Of course, that was the exact opposite of what Baby D wanted to do. He still refused to leave Jou's shoulders, but his eyes were glued to the buildings within the dome. The baby dragon was leaning so far forwards that Jou had to walk faster just to keep the little guy balanced.

 _Traitor_. Jou kept an eye on the lumbering dragon as it crawled. Without legs it was forced to drag itself through the sand with its wings. It was clumsy, but no less disturbing. Whatever Cap'n Yellow Eyes was doing, Jou was glad it was still working. Once the large dragon had made it through the gates, they started to close again, creaking.

"Geeze! Get some oil on those things, would'ya?!"

"Oh I _know!_ Honestly, no matter how often the boys try, they just _insist_ on squealing like that."

" _Gyah!_ " Jou jumped in surprise. To his credit, Baby D didn't lose his perch despite Jou's flailing; he simply chirped a greeting at the man who had suddenly appeared. The man didn't pay the teen any attention, eyes only for the giant dragon sitting quietly in the sand.

"Oooh! Aren't you a pretty thing? Oh, you can stop that little parlor trick." He flapped a hand at Yellow Eyes without looking away from the Duel Monster.

Grumpy Pants looked to the Security officers to make sure everything was secure before walking over to his partner. He whispered something into Cap'n Yellow Eye's ear, placing a hand over the Hero's eyes. As they stood there, whatever spell had kept the Duel Monster docile was immediately shattered.

The dragon shook itself violently, gouging the ground and throwing sand up over them all. With a screech and an almighty _heave_ , the dragon was airborne once again. It gained altitude quickly, circling the group on the ground.

"Exquisite." Jou studied the weird guy as he watched the dragon circle.

He was a tall guy, taller than Jou anyway. His long silver hair fell down to his shoulders, covering all of his face except a small sliver that he probably used for seeing things. Jou would have thought he was an old man, but his high-pitched voice and movements said otherwise. When he moved, it was with all the energy of a small child, but with the kind of restraint born of a high society gentlemen.

Jou hated him already.

"Whew! Now that's what I call a workout! Did I miss anything exciting?" Cap'n Yellow Eyes had come out of his trance and lost his yellow eyes…apparently. He was swinging his arms around as if stretching for a race. He caught sight of Jou and blinked, nonplussed.

"Do you work here?"

"Uuuh…no?"

"Sir. We've delivered the Duel Monster and—"

"Curse of Dragon." The strange silver-haired man steamrolled over Grumpy Pants without taking his eyes of the dragon. Grumpy Pants took the interruption in stride and carried on like people named monsters every day.

"…we've delivered Curse of Dragon and brought the…um…" Grumpy Pants trailed off. The Weird Guy obviously wasn't paying him any attention.

"Yes, yes. Well done, and all that. Now, what have we here, hmmm?" The weird guy, who was apparently the dude in charge?, asked the small Duel Monster. Seeing as Baby D couldn't talk for himself, Jou decided to speak up before Grumpy Pants or Not-So-Yellow-Actually-Kinda-Brown Eyes could butt in.

"I found Baby D on the streets and rescued him from some Society goons. I tried t' get him back to his friend but then there were more of those freaks. And he's just a little guy 'n he can't take care of himself. And then I had t' frogger my way through the crazies and then—"

"And now this adorable creature has found its way home." Weird Guy interrupted again. His winning smile had no effect on Baby D. He held his arms out in a grand gesture, as if he were granting the little dragon the highest honor to be held by the Weird Guy. "Come along. We'll get you all settled in with your new friends."

Baby D looked from the guy's mostly-covered face to his open arms and back again. It didn't look like he was going to move anytime soon. Jou was going to have to hand over Baby D to this freak-show _willingly_ and walk away forever.

Slowly, Jou attempted to unwind Baby D's tail from his waist, murmuring to the little dragon as he did. "C'mon. It's time t' go. Ya gotta let me go, now. C'mon." Jou refused to lie to the little dragon and say it was going to be alright; he didn't know what was going to happen, so how could he say it was going to be okay?

Baby D must have finally caught onto what was going on, because his face lit up and he started making quiet little happy-sounding noises. It felt like some part of Jou broke as he watched the small dragon jump down and bound towards the Center's main building.

Jou sniffed. _I ain't gonna cry! Nope! Not me!_ The blonde clenched his eyes shut tight, tense, just standing there. He couldn't watch Baby D leave, and he didn't want to see the look on the little guy's face when he realized Jou was leaving too. _If_ the dragon even looked back at all.

The Security officers were turning back to the city, signaling for the gates to open again, and the Heroes moved to flank the teen to 'escort' him back as well. If Jou was lucky, they'd just drop him off once they reached the Wall, although he doubted he was getting out of this without being interrogated or something. The teen didn't pay attention to the shouting around him and simply let the Heroes lead him wherever they wanted; he didn't really have a choice anyways.

So when Baby D was suddenly flying at his back Jou was caught completely off guard.

" _Gya—mph!_ " The blonde fell face-first into the sand, a squawking and scrambling baby dragon on his back. Jou tried to lift his head to spit the _hot!gross!hot!_ sand out of his mouth, only to get a face full of distressed dragon. When he managed to sit up, Baby D jumped on him again, pushing Jou down onto his back this time. The little Duel Monster was still squawking in Jou's face.

"Pftht! What was that all about?!" Jou tried to push Baby D away so he could scrape the sand out of his mouth with _some_ dignity, but the Duel Monster would not be moved. Baby D almost looked angry, at least, as angry as a baby face could look, and was definitely scolding the blonde for something.

"C'mon, Baby D! What're ya doin'!? _Man,_ I've got sand _everywhere_ now!" Jou shook his clothes for emphasis, groaning when it simply made the sand in his shorts shift even more uncomfortably. Baby D finally sat back, harrumphing as if to say 'that's what you get!'.

Jou wasn't actually angry with the baby dragon; in fact, relief was the only thing that he could say for sure he felt at the moment. Everyone else, however, was on edge and seemed ready to jump and rescue the sand-covered idiot at any moment. Well, except for Weird Guy, who was laughing, a hand daintily covering his smile.

"I must say, I am rather surprised. I've never seen a bond quite like this before." Weird Guy was staring at Jou now in a way that made the teen feel like he needed to take a shower. Or maybe just punch the guy in the face.

"And you are?"

Jou didn't respond, but blinked up at the tall man, then down at the small dragon who seemed still slightly angry at him. "…Baby D…?"

Weird Guy smiled the slimiest smirk Jou had ever seen. The man looked him up and down, chuckling in a much lower register than his voice suggested he could. Jou suddenly wished he had something to cover himself with.

"Well now, your parents must have had _quite_ the imagination. To actually name their child…" He trailed off, suggestively eyeing the blonde still on the ground.

"That ain't my name ya perv! It's _Jounouchi_! Jounouchi Wheeler." Jou flushed with embarrassment.

The man merely chuckled, visible eye sparkling. "Of course, of course. Maximillion Pegasus, at your service." The man bowed with a flourish. Still bent at the waist, Pegasus looked Jou in the eyes again, pinning the teen in place.

"Would you like a job, starting now?" Jou could swear he felt the earth tilt. It would have made a lot more sense than being offered a job while he sat in the middle of the desert in a super-restricted government birdcage.

"Uuh…I have to go pick up my sister but—"

"Fabulous! You'll start tomorrow! We open at eight a.m. sharp, so don't be late! Glad to have you, Joseph!"

"It's Jou—!"

"Mr. Pegasus. I don't think—"

"And why would you? Don't worry your little heads. I can hire whoever I like. Unless you want to explain a level three dragon rampaging through the streets tomorrow when young Jacoby here doesn't show up because our _fearless_ protectors refused to let the poor teen accept a respectable, well paying, _government_ job….well, on your heads be it, boys."

Grumpy Pants tensed at the implied threat. Jou wasn't sure what kind of 'rampage' Baby D could go on, but maybe that wasn't the threatening part.

The two stared each other down, Jou and the other Hero shrugging at each other since neither could really do anything about the battle of wills, although Jou thought this Pegasus person had an unfair advantage since he only had one exposed eye to keep open. After about a minute of intense staring, Grumpy Pants exhaled through his nose, the fight seeming to drain out of him. Jou got the impression that this wasn't the first time today Grumpy Pants had lost a staring contest.

"Very well. We'll inform the Director."

"Splendid!" Pegasus was back to being bubbly and completely ignoring the rest of the humans. Whatever threatening aura he'd used against the Hero was nowhere to be seen.

And suddenly Jou found himself sitting in the sand all alone. He'd been trying to catch up with what exactly had just happened, and had missed the transport leaving through the gates again. Pegasus had already left for the Center's main building, strolling along in his full burgundy suit as if the heat didn't bother him at all.

Meanwhile, Jou felt like he was getting third degree burns on his butt from sitting there so long. Baby D was running back and forth, chirping at the blonde to get his ass in gear. Jou scrambled after his new employer.

"So…how 'high-paying' we talkin'?" When Jou caught up, Baby D ran into the facility, satisfied that his human would catch up. Pegasus continued as if Jou hadn't spoken at all, commandeering the conversation without preamble.

"It's been _so_ long since I've had young blood here. And now three in one afternoon! It must be my lucky day."

Jou severely hoped he was the only human on that list. This guy looked like the type to have a secret 'adult' room somewhere. Jou shuddered at the image that thought gave him, but followed along nonetheless. If this guy turned out to be some kind of pervert, Jou was confident that he could take him.

"Well, not since that lovely Underwood boy left us."

" _Weevil?_ That guy worked here?"

"Not to worry, Jeremy. Young Underwood didn't bond half as well as you just have."

"So…I won't be doin' the same thing he did?" Jou asked hesitantly.

" _Heavens_ , no! Young Underwood worked with the bug types. You'll be working with the dragon types, of course. Much more dangerous and exciting for a young man like yourself. And I hardly think we'll have to peel you out of the spider webs every week."

Jou snickered at the thought of the bug boy squirming in a giant spider web, hanging upside down and wetting himself in fear.

 _Serves the creep right!_

They turned a corner and came to a set of heavy metal doors that ran from floor to ceiling; a ceiling which now reached up about three stories above them. Baby D, who had gotten there first and was scratching at the door impatiently, looked like a toy in comparison.

 _How big_ is _this place?!_

" _This_ is where you'll be working, Jeremiah. Every weekend, eight to seven, Saturday, Sunday, and sometimes Fridays." The doors started to slide open without a sound. Baby D jumped through immediately, calling a greeting to the Duel Monsters within.

"I'll just leave you to get acquainted, shall I? Ta!"

Jou paid no attention as Pegasus flounced off to another part of the ridiculously large facility. Cautiously, Jou poked his head through the doors.

"Holy _shit_."

* * *

"Come on, guys! Let's be reasonable adults here!" Jaden ducked under a clumsily thrown punch, weaving his way to any open space he could find. His breathing was heavy and he was starting to sweat through his hoodie. He spun again to avoid another grapple from behind. Jaden was almost turning in circles trying to keep the mob from sneaking up on him.

Somebody yelled a less-than-complimentary observation about his mother.

"I guess I'll take that as a no. Anybody wanna try acting like immature toddlers instead? Who's up for naptime? Show of hands." Jaden taunted the crowd as he dodged around their attacks. He was getting clumsier, but his banter wouldn't stop rolling off the tongue.

"Okay, as much fun as this is, I really gotta go now." Jaden scanned the crowd for openings to escape into a less mob-infested street. "What are the chances that we can just let bygones be bygones, and you just let me go?"

The mob didn't growl in response, they weren't _actually_ a band of rabid dogs, but Jaden was starting to wonder what the difference was. All the shouting about 'go into the Light!' and 'kids these days and their monster loving!' and the like was melding together and wasn't making any sense to Jaden's tired mind past _time to run!_ Even the Society members seemed to be getting confused, some of them getting into fights with other Society members no matter what color their clothes were.

 _No honor among angry mobs, I guess._

One said group of fighters rushed into Jaden's small pocket of aggressors. Somebody was getting a little too overzealous and clotheslined somebody else. Jaden took the chance and leaped over the fallen rioter, turning the dive into a tumble to take him farther away from the melee. He regained his footing and sprinted down a side alley, past a few onlookers hiding in the shadows, and back out the other side. The riot had begun breaking off into smaller groups who'd started their own street fights wherever they could. It was only a matter of time before the whole district devolved into martial law.

"And all because _one_ person started shouting about demon possessions. Pfft! As if." Jaden glibly ignored how similar possession was to his own transformations. The stitch in his side, though, was harder to ignore. He slowed to a jog, keeping an eye out for any more white coats.

When the riot had started, Jaden had only been on the outer fringes. He'd promised he wouldn't get in the way of the DM's transfer to the Center, but the teen couldn't help but be involved in any way he could. He'd listened to the walkie as much as he could before having to ditch it to avoid drawing attention. A skinny teen wandering around with a direct line to the Heroes wasn't something to be advertised.

 _And I was so enjoying Brodie's drill sergeant routine, too_. The serious new Hero was taking his first assignment _so_ seriously that Jaden had thought about playing phone pranks with the walkie. He decided against it though when he noticed how much focus Kenzan needed to keep the captured Duel Monster sedated.

The walkie did make a good projectile weapon though, so not a total loss. Jaden's bright red hoodie had made him an easy mark when the crowd turned into a chaotic riot; beaming a guy in the head with the walkie, though, had only made him a larger, and more annoying target to the mob around him. Being drained from the fight that morning, Jaden's monsters couldn't lend their support for very long. He managed to get two minutes of increased speed from Sparkman before the teen was completely spent.

"That'll teach me to skip after-mission snack time." Jaden huffed his way down the street. Then there was a crash from behind and slightly to his left.

"Surrender yourself to the Light and thou shalt be saved!" The group of rioters Jaden had just ditched had broken off from the herd, pointing and screaming at another poor victim of their "conversion tactics."

"After the heretic! Cleanse his soul of the darkness for the glory of our Leader!"

 _I wonder if they have to take special lessons to learn how to talk like that…_

The zealots were yelling and sprinting towards the exhausted teen, cutting his musing sort. Jaden tried to work up the energy to sprint but could only manage a harried-looking limp. The stitch in his side was growing into a full-blown cramp.

"Really, guys? Really? Sure you don't wanna revisit the nap idea? I really thought we had something there!" Now that he was being chased through busier streets, Jaden had to weave through confused and frightened passersby. By the shrieks coming from behind, Jaden could tell that the Society goons were having less success than him: a physically and emotionally drained teenager with a limp.

"Okay Jay, just gotta get off the street before they catch you and drag you to their 'leader'. Wouldn't that be a fun conversation?" Jaden dodged around more frightened pedestrians, muttering to himself.

"Why hello Mr. Sartorious, sir! How are you? Oh, just fine, thanks. No, no. No need to call my family for one final goodbye. I'm sure he's already on his way here to kick my— _hgk!_ "

Something snagged Jaden's hood, yanking him down and around a corner. Jaden saw spots and was rudely reminded of the string of bruises still wrapped around his neck. The combination of exhaustion and sudden renewed pain was enough to distract the teen from the small hands dragging him further down the alley and through a side door.

Jaden tripped over the threshold, coughing, and careened into a wall. He blinked the spots out of his eyes and was finally able to make out his 'rescuer'.

"R-Rua?"

The small bluenette was grinning in triumph, obviously proud of himself despite the state of his rescuee.

"You know it! We saw you runnin' on the news. Lucky for you Ruka and I were here or you'd be street pizza!" Jaden snorted. He ruffled the kid's head a bit, shoving him playfully.

"You're right, thanks for the save, little man!" The two boys grinned at each other with the shared adrenaline-fueled mania born of successfully avoiding a close call.

"Rua! Are you gonna spend all day in the doorway?! Come introduce our new visitor!" A woman's voice came from the front room. Jaden couldn't tell if she was shouting or if she just had a naturally loud voice.

Rua winced and shouted back, "Yes, ma'am!" before proceeding into the building. Jaden followed after the bluenette.

Smirking, he bent down to Rua's ear. "Yeah, Rua. Be a good little boy and introduce your new friend to everyone." Jaden teased. The bluenette flushed and shoved the taller boy away. Jaden laughed, taking it in stride. What was a little harmless teasing between friends? The bop to the head, however, was unexpected.

"Ow!"

"None of that, now. Rua was good enough to get your sorry butt off the streets. The least you could do is be grateful in return."

"Y-yes, ma'am." It was Rua's turn to snicker at the flustered teen.

The woman who'd reprimanded Jaden wasn't much taller than him, but her personality might as well have made her ten feet tall. She commanded the space of the room without any effort at all. Everything seemed ready to jump at her whim before she even asked for it. At the same time though, her face was kind, the promise of mischief hiding in the corner of her eyes.

Jaden blinked down at the formidable woman, still caught off guard. She was smiling patiently in return, content to wait for the brunette's brain to catch up with him.

"Um…are you a nun?" Jaden had seen nuns on TV, and although those ones usually wore black and white robes, the woman's burgundy and white long-sleeved dress wasn't too far off. It was an honest question, but she seemed surprised by it before breaking out into laughter so hard she was almost in tears.

"Haha! No, son, I'm not. Just a humble nurse. My name's Martha; welcome to my clinic." Martha wiped her eyes, still chuckling. She glanced over the teen, assessing him with sharp eyes. "You didn't get hurt out there, did you? Just a bit shaken up, I think." She answered her own question, leading Jaden to sit in a chair at a nearby table.

The inside of the clinic didn't look much different than any other house. Maybe there were more tables and chairs for waiting though, and Jaden could see a hallway that had plenty of doors that most likely led to patients' rooms. Homey touches like potted plants and curtains gave the place a warm feeling that immediately set Jaden at ease.

That, and the lingering smell of freshly baked cookies.

Jaden's stomach grumbled, setting Martha laughing again. She left the room and came back with a plate of cookies. They weren't fresh-from-the-oven warm anymore, but they were still to _die_ for. Jaden inhaled at least seven before turning back to the conversation the others were having without him.

"—and then big bro Crow showed up and chased them away without even getting off his bike!" Rua was gesturing wildly, a half-eaten cookie in his hand.

Martha chuckled as she puttered around the waiting area, cleaning as she went. "Sounds like you got yourselves in a spot of trouble. Good thing Jaden was there to help you out, hmm?" She shot a wink at Jaden. Rua sputtered but then went right back to saying how cool big bro Crow was. Martha hummed to show she was still listening, even as she stuck her head into one of the side rooms.

"Serenity? You two all done for the day. Come on out and join the party." Her voice was soft as she spoke to who Jaden assumed to be her patients. The teen was impressed with how easily the woman's voice switched from playful teasing to gentle caretaker.

 _That must be the fabled 'mom voice' technique I've heard so much about._

"Hey, Ruka! Martha made cookies!"

Martha came back with two girls trailing behind her. Ruka looked much more energetic than the last time Jaden had seen her. There was color to her cheeks, and she practically bounced into the room to snatch a cookie from her brother. When Ruka caught sight of Jaden, she even blushed scarlet this time, instead of light pink.

"J-J-Jaden! Um…how are…are you okay?" Rua snickered at his twin's stuttering, but Jaden just smiled and ignored it completely as he grabbed another handful of cookies.

 _Coming here is obviously helping her feel better. Maybe with more treatments she won't stutter anymore!_

"Never better!" Ruka blushed even harder having Jaden's smile directed solely at her. Jaden inhaled a few more cookies; he hoped she wasn't getting a fever.

"That's good. We were worried about you." Jaden's body suddenly remembered that cookies weren't for breathing. Coughing, Jaden mimed 'wrong tube' to dispel the odd looks his choking got him as another, slightly older girl, sat down at the table.

"Y-you guys were worried about me?" Jaden eyed 'Serenity' with wide-eyed surprise.

"Yes, we were all watching the news of the riot in case it spread here. Rua saw your red jacket and said he knew you. So we were all worried." Serenity answered, as she was the only one who didn't seem to think Jaden was acting funny.

"Right. Of course. I was on the news." Jaden mostly muttered to himself. Although from the sharp look Martha shot him, she had also heard. "I'm glad you guys weren't caught out in that mess."

Rua leaned back in his chair. "Nah, we've been here all day for Ruka's appointment. She's done now, but we're gonna have to wait for it to die down out there before we can get home."

"We should be perfectly fine here, but I am worried about my brother. He said he was going to walk me home after my session." Serenity trailed off worriedly, gazing towards the front door as if Jou was going to burst through at any moment.

 _I kinda hope not. It's not like I have a good excuse for him about my missing school today. Unless I wanna explain why I was at a Society riot…_

"I'm sure Jou will be here before you know it. I don't think anything short of a natural disaster would stop him from coming to get you. And even then I'm not so sure that would do it." Jaden tried to comfort the girl. As Serenity was getting more and more worried, she looked to be on the verge of tears, the kind of tears that made you feel like a failure of a human being for letting it happen.

"You know my brother?" Serenity asked with wide eyes.

"U-uh, yeah! We go to school together! So, this is a Duel Clinic?" Jaden shoved another cookie in his mouth to cover up his hesitation. Jou hadn't mentioned his sister to Jaden, but she didn't need to know that.

"Yes indeed! The best clinic in all of Neo Domino." Martha swelled with pride. She patted the table affectionately. "Nothing like those _Society_ clinics." She sniffed with disdain.

Jaden had never been to _any_ clinic before, so he could only assume each clinic was like its owner. Martha's clinic was warm and homey, but with a stern atmosphere that said 'you will lay here until you're better, and not before'. Light clinics were probably overexposed, too well-lit, and made someone sicker the longer they stayed, just so you'd have to keep coming back for more 'treatment'.

"Whatever they're doing in those 'clinics' sure as heck ain't workin'. Anyone who goes in there with a simple headache walks out weaker than a kitten!"

Jaden eyed the dwindling pile of cookies. The girls weren't really eating anymore, paying more attention to Martha instead.

"Duel clinics are supposed to leave a person energized! There's so much energy around us all the time, the body just needs a little help sometimes. Some people more than others." Marth gave the two girls a kind smile.

The two boys had completely checked out of the conversation, only concerned with getting more cookies than the other. Rua glared at Jaden when he snatched a cookie before the bluenette could. Jaden smirked around his mouthful of chocolatey goodness. He swallowed without hardly chewing to mouth a challenge, _'game on'_.

"I honestly don't know what this city is coming to. Used to be every family would have their own remedies for energy deficiencies. Ever since that Society showed up, they've bullied people into selling their recipes and cures, then forced the poor dears to pay through the nose to use what used to be theirs." Martha huffed, exasperated.

Another two cookies disappeared in Rua's favor after he stomped on Jaden's foot to distract him. Jaden slapped the kid's hand away in retaliation, snagging a cookie for himself.

"And now I barely have enough business to keep the place open. Some days I wonder if I shouldn't just pack up and try something else."

"Don't say that! You can't give up, Martha!"

"You're the best healer in the whole city! We don't know what we'd do without you."

Martha's smile was tired, but touched. "Thank you, girls. That's very kind of you—"

Jaden was _so_ close to scoring the last cookie, but Rua jumped on his back, pulling Jaden into a headlock. Jaden toppled forward, holding himself upright against the edge of the table. Rua tried again for the cookie, reaching over Jaden's head with one arm, but the teen shoved one hand up into the bluenette's chin. Unfortunately, this overbalanced them both, and sent them slamming against the table, both still straining for the last cookie.

"Boys! This is a place of healing! If you're gonna cause a ruckus, you might as well go play in the street!"

Jaden straightened, chuckling nervously. Martha was not a woman to be trifled with. If she thought you'd be better off playing in the street, she'd make it happen. With love, of course.

"Sorry, sorry! No worries, I should be getting home anyways." Jaden started towards the front door, peeking out the small window to make sure the roving packs of wild Society members were indeed being rounded up. Ruka and Rua were saying their goodbyes as well.

"What about you guys? You gonna be okay to get home?" Rua gave Jaden a giant thumbs up, his toothy grin exuding nothing but confidence, a confidence that Ruka didn't seem to share. She was shuffling her feet and trying not to look at anyone. Martha noticed, however, and stalled Rua with a hand to the boy's shoulder.

"Oh no you don't. You aren't wandering around out there on your own. Not after what's happened already." Martha eyed Jaden appraisingly, making the brunette snap to attention under her gaze.

"I'm sure Jaden wouldn't mind walking you two home." Jaden quickly nodded in the affirmative. Martha was still squinting at him, as if she still wasn't sure of the decision herself. The woman turned back to Serenity.

"Your brother is still coming to get you, right?" Serenity smiled softly, if a little hesitantly at the authority in Martha's inquiry.

"Yes. He should be here any minute now."

"Hmph. Well, I should stick around until that boy decides to show up. I swear, that brother of yours has a good head on his shoulders. If only he'd use it for something useful!" Serenity just smiled, probably having heard Martha rant about her brother more than once before.

"Don't you worry, ma'am! I'll make sure they get home in one piece." Jaden drew Martha's attention back to the situation at hand. He smiled his biggest 'trust me' smile that had gotten him out of more than one tight situation with protective parental figures in the past.

Martha gave him a look that said she wasn't going to fall for any of Jaden's tricks. But she sighed and shooed them all out the door with a smile anyway.

"Be careful! Look both ways before crossing the street!" She crushed all three of them in a hug before finally letting them go. "And tell the others to come visit their poor mother for once!"

Jaden smiled and waved as the twins shouted back their 'of course we will!'s. He walked along with the two, keeping an eye out for any signs of white. He didn't ask where they lived, because that would be redundant, and he'd find out soon anyways. But Jaden was curious about one thing.

"Soooo, are you guys, like, related or something?"

"Uuuh, duh? We're _twins_?" Rua gestured between his face and his sister's, as if Jaden had somehow missed how similar they were.

"Not that. I mean you guys and Martha. You guys are going to bring back the 'others'? Who are apparently her children?" Jaden didn't bring up the possibility of adoption. He knew how sensitive the issue of adoptive versus bio families could be.

Ruka giggled, but let her brother answer; she had gone back to hiding behind Rua. "Oh, that. No, only Ruka and I are related. Martha just calls everyone her kids. If you stick around long enough, she'll call you that too."

Jaden kinda thought she already had, but didn't mention it. He just thought about how different it would be to have a mother-type figure calling him 'son' all the time. It was probably a good feeling.

"Crow and the other guys are special though. They were just kids, but Martha took care of them during the Chaos. So I guess, since they were the first, they're her 'oldest' kids. Martha doesn't do favorites, but those guys get _special_ treatment." From the way Rua wriggled his eyebrows and how Ruka was giggling under her breath, Jaden guessed that 'special treatment' was special the same way a new toothbrush after a dentist's visit was a 'treat'.

There was a crackling sound over head, signaling that the emergency broadcast system was coming online. Jaden looked up in mild surprise. He wondered what was more important to report than a nearby riot.

"— _ware. All citizens are to remain in their homes. Be aware. All citizens are to remain—"_

"Shit. We need to get back before they block off the streets. C'mon, Ruka!" Rua pulled his sister after him as the two started to dart from hiding place to hiding place.

"Does Crow know you use that kind of language when he's not around?" Jaden followed after them, having to duck down twice as low to keep up. Rua barely paused, still leading the group away from the Security officers as they started locking down the streets. Jaden could see a hint of a grin on the small boy's face.

"What he don't know won't hurt him." Rua shot a smirk over his shoulder at the teen. "And what you don't tell him won't hurt _you_." Jaden wasn't sure if that was a warning or a threat but thought better of double-checking.

The kids turned down a side street that Jaden didn't recognized and started off in a sprint. He used his superior teen legs to catch up, but hoped that wherever the twins lived, it wasn't too much farther away.

 _I hope Serenity will be able to get home okay…_

* * *

"Big brother! What took you so long?" Serenity gave her brother a giant hug as soon as he stepped into the clinic. She pulled back, ready to reprimand him for making her worry so much, but stopped short.

Jou was in a daze, standing listlessly in the middle of the room. It was a wonder he had made it this far at all considering the state he was in now.

"Jou…?"

The blonde mumbled something.

Serenity frowned, getting worried all over again.

"…dragons…"

"Wha—?"

"Dragons! Huge! Gigantic dra-! _So_ many dragons!" Jou was shouting now. He was also smiling, but it had an edge of hysteria to it. But when Serenity finally saw his eyes, there was nothing but excitement and awe.

"I got a job! Dragons!"

By the time Martha had gotten Jou to calm down, and he'd told them all about what had happened to him, it was too dark for anyone to be wandering out in the streets. The siblings didn't end up going home that night. They were plied with warm tea and sent off to Martha's spare rooms, instead.

* * *

 **Okay, that was a thing. Strugglebussed my way through this chapter super hard. Told one of my betas that I felt like a 'three wheeled bus…with hexagon wheels…in need of gas'. :P Sorry if the switching from Jou to Jaden threw anyone off, but it helped me get the scene out, so that's something. There will** _ **definitely**_ **be more Yusei in the next chapter. Remember! The** _ **Slowest**_ **of Burns! Hang in there.**


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